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Jordan Supercast episodes

July 03, 2024 Episode 252: What is the Mustang Battalion at Herriman High School?
It’s called the Mustang Battalion at Herriman High School and it is the first Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps or JROTC program in Jordan School District.
On this episode of the Supercast, meet students involved in the program and find out how it is teaching them valuable leadership skills which will last a lifetime. Also, find out what the JROTC program IS and what it IS NOT, as they celebrate their first full year at Herriman High.
Audio Transcription
[Music]
Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It's called the Mustang Battalion at Herriman High School, and it is the first Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, or JROTC, program in Jordan School District.
On this episode of the Supercast, meet some of the students involved in the program, and hear how it is teaching them valuable leadership skills that will last a lifetime. Listen and find out what the JROTC program is and what it is not, as they celebrate their first full year at Herriman High.
[Music]
We're here with Sergeant Wilson at Herriman High School. You've completed one year of teaching JROTC here at Herriman High. How does it feel to be at the end of year one?
Sergeant Wilson:
It's exciting that we've made it this far. You know, it's been up and down. A lot of work getting into starting the program. We're excited for what's going to happen next year as the cadets grow and we get more cadets.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about your experience first of all and what led you here to help start this JROTC at Herriman High.
Sergeant Wilson:
Well, this is my 11th year that I've taught Junior ROTC and going through the program and teaching and seeing the changes that it instills in students, no matter what they're doing, and the fact that they just come up and say thank you, I made it because of this class. I have a lot of passion for this program. When the principal had talked to me about starting the program here, I wanted to make sure that it started off strong because it's such a good program. If I could put an ROTC program in every high school, I would put one in every high school.
Anthony Godfrey:
When we first met about probably a year ago to talk about the possibility of bringing the program here, you told me about some of the things students can learn from this program. There may be the impression that this is only preparation for people who are then going to enlist in the military, but there are a lot of important life lessons and qualities that students can learn as part of a JROTC program.
Sergeant Wilson:
When I talk to parents, a lot of parents look at it and they simplify it as it's a life skills class. As we look at the different things that youth, young people that are getting ready to go out into the world need, a lot of it is just they need confidence. Confidence in themselves, the understanding of how things work, the fact that they can make change, they can make changes in their communities. And so we give them through trial and error and step by step, not only the ability to do that and the understanding of how it works, but the confidence to do that.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, giving them a sense of efficacy. I talk about that a lot, that when you work hard, when you learn things that you didn't know before and you put them in action, you can change the world and you can make an impact on the people around you. For those who are unfamiliar with an ROTC program, what type of experiences can a student expect to have in a class over the course of the first year as a cadet?
Sergeant Wilson:
As a cadet, the first year they're going to learn a lot about themselves. Who are they? Because if you don't know who you are, it's hard for you to be an effective leader and lead others. As a leader, you need to know and understand the subordinates, the ones that work for you and you can't do that effectively if you don't know who you are.
Anthony Godfrey:
What are some of the activities that they would expect to be involved in?
Sergeant Wilson:
Oh, that's a long list. We learn a little bit about discipline because we have uniforms and stuff that they wear and a lot of it is attention to detail. What the uniform is supposed to look like so that when you go out and present the colors at a ceremony or something, you look nice, dressed, and professional. So we learn about that. We learn a lot about Teen CERT disaster medical, what to do in a disaster. This is a lot of hands-on. We learn a little bit about physical fitness. We learn how to plan a schedule. What does my schedule look like? We look at time wasters. We look at how to better organize and you basically plan your year. That's one of the fun things about ROTC is it's a program that's run by students.
Anthony Godfrey:
Now you have cadets that come from across Jordan School District and from outside of Jordan School District as well. Tell me about this first batch of students that you've been working with here.
Sergeant Wilson:
It's an amazing group. We have a senior that is graduating out of Bingham High School this year. I have a senior out of Copper Hills and I have a senior here out of Herriman High School that are some of my main key students when they came in. They just started taking responsibilities for stuff which is one of the fun things about the program. I have two students that have come from the Granite District to come over and be part of this program and looking at next year I have students that are coming from just about every school here in the Jordan District, every high school.
Anthony Godfrey:
We're going to take the listeners inside the activation ceremony. Explain what the activation ceremony is all about. This was your first to be involved in right?
Sergeant Wilson:
This was our first. So each year we have an end-of-year ceremony that kind of is a culmination of everything that they've learned in that year. This year being an activation ceremony the cadets have learned the basics of being in the program and what it's going to take. They met those requirements to do that presentation and they actually received their flag and so they were presented with the flag saying we are an official ROTC program and you've met the requirements. So next year what's going to happen is we're going to have a change of command ceremony. And every year after this it'll be a change of command where the outgoing commander will pass on the flag to the incoming commander.
Ceremony MC:
Ladies and gentlemen the Executive Officer of Salt Lake City Recruiting Battalion and Regional Representative for Training and Doctrine Command, Major Lucas.
Major Lucas:
Yeah, I just want to take a few moments here. I'll make it short because I know how hard it is to hold those rifles and flags for a long period of time. I've been in there with generals are speaking but yeah JROTC I'm excited to be here. JROTC is a great program. It really teaches leadership and patriotism in our youth. It’s so desperately needed.
Ceremony MC:
Ladies and gentlemen please rise and pay the proper respect as the colors pass through the gym.
Ladies and gentlemen approaching the PA stand is Cadet Captian Diekmann, the Commander of the Herriman Mustang Battalion. The Colorguard led by Cadet Sergeant Jacob, comprised of cadets from Copper Hills, Herriman, and Bingham High Schools.
Ladies and gentlemen, Cadets of the Mustang Battalion.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me a little bit about the patriotic element of being in a JROTC program.
Sergeant Wilson:
Well, we just had the end of school they finished up their service learning project which they set up for the community to come out and see and have little lessons on flag etiquette. We went through all the parts of flag etiquette, displaying the flag, how to show respect to the flag, and even retiring flags and what meets the criteria of needing to be retired as a flag. They like to go out and be part of parades. Veterans Day parades, Memorial ceremonies. They also got to participate in a memorial dedication of a monument in Draper for Gold Star families and so they really get to get out and be part of these different patriotic groups.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's great. So it's a connection to the community and a connection to their country.
Sergeant Wilson:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, thank you very much for coming to Herriman High School and making this possible. Your bringing your experience has really helped propel this program forward very rapidly and I know it's going to continue to grow.
Sergeant Wilson:
Thank you.
Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us when we come back more with the JROTC program at Herriman High School.
Break:
Does your student want to become a veterinarian, commercial pilot, programmer? Maybe they want to make a difference as a dental assistant. These are just some of the programs offered as part of Career and Technical Education, CTE in Jordan School District. CTE provides the technical skills needed to prepare students for future employment or for a successful transition to post-secondary education. Career and Technical Education provides work-based learning opportunities. We partner with industry experts to offer apprenticeships and internships with students working in the real world at real jobs while going to school. The CTE experience starts in our elementary schools with the Kids' Marketplace and grows through middle and high school. To explore all CTE has to offer in Jordan School District visit cte.jordandistrict.org today and let's get your child started on the pathway to a profession.
Anthony Godfrey:
All right we're now talking with the commander of Herriman High School's JROTC program. Please introduce yourself.
Miriam Diekmann:
Hi, I'm Miriam Dieckmann, the commander in charge of everything.
Anthony Godfrey:
In charge of everything. Tell me what everything entails. Tell me some of the things you've been able to do as commander here.
Miriam Diekmann:
Well, I get to oversee the teams. So like we split up who's in charge of what team and who kind of makes sure things are running smoothly, but we kind of do that together. Then we make sure events are going well. So like we had two big projects, one that Sergeant Wilson mentioned, the service learning project where we retired a bunch of flags. And then we had a different project where we uploaded and made marching videos so our cadets could have reference material to practice.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the other cadets in the class. What is it like being a part of a class like this and forming these friendships?
Miriam Diekmann:
So a lot of it you have to put in a lot of hard work, but the friendships and family you make is very rewarding. So some people won't do their jobs and other people will have to fill in but it's kind of worth it sometimes because at the end of the day, you're all friends and so you kind of like forgive each other.
Anthony Godfrey:
It was fun to be part of the activation ceremony with you. You walked me through it in advance, helped me rehearse and we got to unveil the flag. Tell me about that. Are you excited about how it turned out?
Miriam Diekmann:
No one had seen the flag except Sergeant Wilson so I got to be part of unveiling that.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the activation ceremony. How did that feel for you?
Miriam Diekmann:
I was kind of really nervous because I was like “Well, I'm already kind of like a commander but now we're having a ceremony to like make it official”. And so I felt kind of weird because it was like a lot of spotlights on me. But it was fun. And like the flag, like seeing it for the first time, I was like “Oh my goodness, like we finally have our flag like showing that we're a battalion”. It was really exciting to see it and we were all very impatient for the past week knowing that it was sitting in the classroom and then not being able to see it. We were very impatient.
Anthony Godfrey:
So you're saying Sergeant Wilson can keep a secret?
Miriam Diekmann:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
That doesn't surprise me. The flag’s here in the corner of the classroom. It looks fantastic. It's a great design and it's something to be proud of to be here on the ground floor. What's next for you? What do you want to do from here? What has this class inspired you to do beyond high school?
Miriam Diekmann:
So I'm contemplating joining the National Guard and from there, I don't know what I want to do. Part of me wants to go to medical school but I don't know so we'll see. I feel a copycat to my best friend who's doing the same thing but I don't know.
Anthony Godfrey:
So there's a lot of options that seem possible after being in JROTC.
Miriam Diekmann:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
So if someone is listening, what would you tell them if they're thinking maybe I should try? This it's a lot of work. I'd have to go to another school maybe for part of the day what would your advice be to them?
Miriam Diekmann:
Do it. My advice would be to do it. Because at the end of the day if you don't like it then you don't like it and you don't have to do it, but you're never going to know unless you try so you might as well do it.
Anthony Godfrey:
And it sounds like from your experience and from what Sergeant Wilson described there are a lot of things that you'll learn and a lot of experiences you'll have that you don't expect.
Miriam Diekmann:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
Now are you a senior or junior?
Miriam Diekmann:
I'm a sophomore.
Anthony Godfrey:
You're a sophomore. Well, Commander you do not seem like a sophomore and you've got plenty of time to figure out what comes after high school but you're taking more JROTC next year I'm guessing.
Miriam Diekmann:
Yes for the next two.
Anthony Godfrey:
Awesome. Well, that's great . Thank you very much for talking with us and good luck with everything going forward.
Miriam Diekmann:
Thank you. We're now talking with First Sergeant Morris. Introduce yourself, please.
First Sergeant Morris:
Yeah, I'm Cadet First Sergeant Morris. This is my second year with JROTC and I'm the senior ranking NCL here.
Anthony Godfrey:
So you attended Taylorsville last year I assume and then you've been here for the second year.
First Sergeant Morris:
Yeah, so I go to school at Hunter High School and then I attended JROTC at Taylorsville last year and then I transferred here to Herriman this year.
Anthony Godfrey:
You're following Sergeant Wilson here.
First Sergeant Morris:
Yes, I am.
Anthony Godfrey:
I don't blame you for that one bit so we're glad to have you here at Herriman. Tell me about your experience in JROTC these last two years.
First Sergeant Morris:
It's been lots of fun. I've learned a lot here about leadership, and a lot of life skills, and just bonding and being able to make friends and to have like another family.
Anthony Godfrey:
It sounds like you've learned to rely on other people. How does it feel to really feel a part of this and feel connected to these folks?
First Sergeant Morris:
It feels great because I know that I always have people to back me up and people that I can rely on to help me with what needs to get done.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about some of the disaster preparedness or other skills that you've learned. Do you feel better prepared if things go wrong?
First Sergeant Morris:
We spent an entire quarter learning about disaster preparedness. It's called Teen CERT so it's Community Emergency Response Team. So if there's any event where first responders are overwhelmed your CERT people will go and assist them. So in a large disaster such as an earthquake here in Utah, CERT. members would go out and do search and rescue and they will help treat the wounded and set up areas for people to recover. Without people doing CERT we wouldn't be able to effectively recover from a disaster.
Anthony Godfrey:
Sounds like there are some essential skills involved.
First Sergeant Morris:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, you're obviously learning some great lessons here and doing a great job. Congratulations on the work you've done to this point and good luck going forward.
First Sergeant Morris:
Thank you.
Anthony Godfrey:
We're talking now with Corporal Londelius. You graduated this year. Tell me about your experience in JROTC.
Corporal Londelius:
I don't know. I really loved the program and it really gave me the opportunity to like tap into the leadership skills that I didn't know I had. I really enjoyed this program because it kind of forced me out of that safety bubble I've created over the years. And it's forced me to be able to communicate with people and reach out to my cadets to make sure they're up to date with the information we have. It's allowed me to become more confident in myself in a sense.
Anthony Godfrey:
I love that. That will serve you well throughout your life.
Corporal Londelius:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
It sounds like you have learned a sense of responsibility or deepened sense of responsibility. Corporal Londelius:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about how that feels. You talked about making sure that things are going well for others around you.
Corporal Londelius:
Yeah. So since I was a squad leader for a little bit, I was in charge of a group of cadets and I had to make sure their grades were in check, not just mine. So I had to reach out and make sure they're doing the assignments that need to be done. It kind of forced me to not really focus on myself but my team and see how we progress as a team rather than how good I'm doing. Because now I kind of look at everything like, okay, how is this going to affect someone else though? How is this going to help them and myself at the same time?
Anthony Godfrey:
That's a tremendous skill, a great perspective to have. What are your plans now post-graduation?
Corporal Londelius:
So I'm planning in a few months to serve an LDS mission and then once I come back from that, I will be enlisting into the Marines.
Anthony Godfrey:
Do you know where you're going yet?
Corporal Londelius:
I do not. I have not turned in any papers yet but I am getting close.
Anthony Godfrey:
And then when you return, you want to enlist in the Marines.
Corporal Londelius:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
Is that something you had thought about doing before joining JROTC?
Corporal Londelius:
Yes, I've been planning to join at least the military for a while now and I just recently found out that Herriman finally has had a JROTC program. So I was like, “Okay, I'll sign up for that” and it's kind of sad because it's my first and last year that I was able to do JROTC but it's like bittersweet.
Anthony Godfrey:
I'm sorry we didn't get it here earlier for you but I'm glad we got you on the tail end of your time in high school. So did this deepen your desire to be part of the military going forward?
Corporal Londelius:
Yes, having been in color guard and being the color guard commander when we went to do like our first color guard, I kind of got a little emotional because seeing how the people were reacting to us presenting the flags and all that, it just kind of set me more in stone that, “Okay, I do want to serve my country. This is something I want to do in the long run.”
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I think you have great things ahead that's really exciting. What do you want to try to do in the Marines? Is there a particular focus for you?
Corporal Londelius:
I am focusing on going into the aviation field of the Marines but I'm not sure how that will go with my eyesight and all but as long as I'm able to serve in the Marines and serve my country on time with pretty much anything I get put into.
Anthony Godfrey:
Fantastic. Well, best of luck with everything going forward.
Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you will do today. We'll see you out there.
[Music]
21 min
June 27, 2024 Episode 251: One of the Coolest Teachers on Campus at Ridge View Elementary School
Some say he is one of the coolest teachers on campus and his lessons push students to achieve their highest potential in the gym and in life.
On this episode of the Supercast, we take you to Ridge View Elementary School to find out why Physical Education teacher Taylor Wright seems to have "the right stuff" when it comes to getting students excited, engaged, and going out of their comfort zones to do their very best.
Audio Transcription
[Music]
Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. Some say he is one of the coolest teachers on campus and his lessons push students to achieve their highest potential in the gym and in life.
On this episode of the Supercast, we take you to Ridge View Elementary School to find out why physical education teacher Taylor Wright seems to really have “the right stuff” when it comes to getting students excited, engaged, and out of their comfort zones to do their very best.
[Music]
Taylor Wright:
Alright now do big waves, big waves, big waves, big waves. It's a workout, it's a workout. Stop, just look, look. Alright, we're going to go up when I say “up”. Okay, I'm going to say put the hands up and we're going to go up.
Anthony Godfrey:
We are on the back field of Ridgeview Elementary School with Taylor Wright, physical education teacher extraordinaire. Thanks for spending time with us today.
Taylor Wright:
Thank you sir, thank you. It's an honor to be here.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the activity that we just witnessed. That was a total blast just to watch those first graders having so much fun with you out here.
Taylor Wright:
Yes, sir, the parachute, we've been doing it all day and I've done it with most of the young kids. Sometimes things get off the rotation schedule and so forth, but the kids love this and the game that we play at the end that the kids love as well. It's awesome, it teaches them to work together and it also teaches them to– it's a good workout, it's actually a good workout.
Anthony Godfrey:
What I thought was really cool about it is they're having so much fun they forget that they are actually exercising. I need to figure out how to do that for myself to forget that I'm exercising. You made it so much fun for them, so engaging and interactive, they're talking with each other, they're having a great time and they're getting a break from being in the classroom which I think prepares them to be even more effective as they're learning at their desk.
Taylor Wright:
Yes sir, yes sir. As you know there's a lot of studies that show that a certain amount of movement every day is good for your brain. This one is stuff that hopefully they'll never forget. Like you said, when you walked in you knew that you remember the parachute.
Anthony Godfrey:
I remember the parachute.
Taylor Wright:
I remember the parachute, and I try to do stuff that they'll remember. And that this would be hard to do with your family, but I always try to do stuff that if I was a student in my class I would enjoy and I would look back fondly upon and actually could do with my own family. So that's what I try to think about.
Anthony Godfrey:
I have to say that you have taken the parachute experience to the next level. I think all we did is we lifted the parachute, climbed under it and then tucked it under and sat down on it.
Taylor Wright:
Yes sir.
Anthony Godfrey:
But you had this game where they're running around trading places and it's a rainbow parachute, very large.
Taylor Wright:
Yes sir.
Anthony Godfrey:
Listeners can probably picture their handles on the outside so each student has a handle and they're by a color.
Taylor Wright:
Yes sir.
Anthony Godfrey:
So then you call out blue and everybody lifts the parachute and the blues run around and trade places.
Taylor Wright:
Yes sir.
Anthony Godfrey:
And then they get their spot and they race around the outside sometimes like a duck, duck, goose almost.
Taylor Wright:
Yes sir.
Anthony Godfrey:
And it's so engaging and they're just having a great time every second. You seem to be having a great time every second as well.
Taylor Wright:
Yes sir. This is– and I've told you this. I don't like missing school. I never miss because I love the kids. I mean it's such an awesome atmosphere here. Ms. Doleac, everybody. I needed help filling some balls with air earlier, which I was using all day, and our maintenance guy Scott went out of his way to help me. It's just such a– it's just– I can't explain and I've told you this. I get emotional talking about it. It's just such an unbelievable place to work and it's very person-centered, very student-centered and it's real you know and it makes my life. I mean honestly, Ms. Meredith our principal will tell you like I get sad when we have long times off. You know I really enjoy being here.
Anthony Godfrey:
I love that and it's obvious in the way that you interact with the students and I've talked with you over the years. You've come up to me and talked about how much you love what you do and it's really exciting to see it firsthand for the first time.
Taylor Wright:
I feel like every day I have to up my game. If I had we had fun last time I don't want it to be lower so I want to keep it going.
Anthony Godfrey:
You do have a lot, you have about 30 feedback machines right over there that will tell you whether it's working or not immediately.
Taylor Wright:
Yes sir. Immediately.
Antony Godfrey:
Well, it certainly is working today. And every video I've seen, every time I've interacted, it's obvious to me how much you care about the kids and providing them with an unforgettable experience. Now you have not always taught elementary you taught secondary before.
Taylor Wright:
Yes sir.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about that experience compared with this one.
Taylor Wright:
Yes sir. So I started my career as a high school teacher. I got into football coaching. I coached at several colleges and then I got back into teaching in middle school and things. And then you know, this is the best. This is the best job I've ever had. I worked off the field at the University of Wyoming. I worked at Central Missouri. I taught high school like you said for three years and I had wonderful relationships. I still have students or players I coached reach out to me years later. I started teaching back in 2009. So all those things I love I'm thankful for that. But this is the best teaching job I've ever had. To teach elementary school kids is the absolute mecca of this for me. I mean I get to– Ms. Meredith will tell you I go in there at lunch every day and talk to– I literally just enjoy interacting with them. You know, making jokes, messing with them, just having that feedback. All these kids know me really well.
The relationships you can build with students at any level are great and they're different. Secondary kids are more able to understand things and that nature but here you can if someone’s sad and I talk to him, it can help their day. I mean yeah, and I do try to teach them that. I tell you what, our school is so great. I mean I was teaching a class earlier and I remember it was a kindergarten class and so we were doing an activity and I was like “okay guys it's going to be difficult.” It was this parachute activity. I was like “I wonder if you can do it?” And someone yelled out “I can do hard things” or “we can do hard things” and I love that.
Anthony Godfrey:
I love that.
Taylor Wright:
So I try to you know teach them that. Like the process of doing something is to just be the best version of yourself and then do it that way and not even worry about like you know if we win or lose. We just focus in the moment and do our best. And I'm telling you like it's been the greatest job I've ever had.
Taylor Wright:
Well, you are a huge positive impact on these students and you have the advantage of getting to know every student every school.
Taylor Wright:
Yes sir.
Anthony Godfrey:
And this is a huge school.
Taylor Wright:
Yes sir.
Anthony Godfrey:
We're well over a thousand students–
Taylor Wright:
Yes sir.
Anthony Godfrey:
–for those who are listening here at Ridge View. And we are splitting the school next year to 4th, 5th, and 6th grade going to another building and we'll still have K-3 here and you'll be here at Ridge View continuing these great activities.
Taylor Wright:
Yes sir. I'll be here.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me, what do you hope that students take away from their time in PE classes with you?
Taylor Wright:
You know the thing I try to hope is that they take– there's a saying Maya Angelou and other people say it “No one remembers what you said or did that they remember how you made them feel.” So I hope they remember someone who had a positive attitude. Who always came ready to be a beacon of good energy. I think the kids know because I'm always playing like every game I have, I'm participating with the kids. I mean that sounds crazy but literally, I'll either referee or I'll play part of the game and I hope that they just know that like you know this is how you live. You live by just enjoying yourself and also just participating. Being an active participant in what you're doing. Just put all your energy in what you're doing at that given moment. Nothing else matters. You're living in the present and that's where the juice of life is I think. And I hope that the kids know that and I think a lot of them kind of a little bit do.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. Absolutely. You are tapping into that feeling in elementary students where they're making the most of the moment and putting their whole selves into what they do.
I had to step away for a phone call for a second.
Taylor Wright:
Yes sir.
Anthony Godfrey:
Important decision. Talking with a couple of people. We came to the decision and I walked right back to the joy. I wanted to get off that phone call as fast as I could to get it back to that group of kids interacting with you and having a great time.
Now you have a lot of space here. You've also got a big hill. Have you been able to use the hill to your advantage?
Taylor Wright:
You know what? So the recess usually stays on this here. We do play a game on this hill right here. So this is what we'll play a game where I'll tell a story. The kids, little kids love things like that even more than this. A lot of times they'll like stories and things that you make up. Yeah. And so we play a game called a bull a burst. I'll tell a story and it usually involves them and it will usually involve somehow that they're a name. Which is what they really care about. And as I'm telling it, it'll be like, okay, I took Miss Hatch’s first-grade class outside. We were outside. We heard something. We heard a boom. And I looked to my left. I looked to my right and it was a bullet burst. And then the kids have to run up the hill, touch the fence, yell, whoo, and then come back and sit down. And of course, you don't want to be the last one to get down. So we actually do play the hill here and the kids love it. And games like that, the kids will request that a lot. So yes, sir.
Anthony Godfrey:
I can only imagine how fast they are running and how hard they are trying not to be the last one to run and sit down.
Taylor Wright:
Yes. One, two, three. Up. All right. Down, down, down, down. Sit on it. Sit on it. You got to sit on it.
Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back more with Taylor Wright and his students.
Break:
Are you looking for a job right now? Looking to work in a fun and supportive environment with great pay and a rewarding career? Jordan School District is hiring. We're currently filling full and part-time positions. You can work and make a difference in young lives and education as a classroom assistant or a substitute teacher. Apply to work in one of our school cafeterias where our lunch staff serves up big smiles with great food every day. We're also looking to hire custodians and bus drivers. In Jordan School District we like to say people come for the job and enjoy the adventure. Apply today at employment.jordandistrict.org
Anthony Godfrey:
My level of exercise is generally walking from the car to a conference room but I believe that you are getting quite a bit of exercise just as a part of your day. Tell me about how you feel at the end of the day.
Taylor Hatch:
Everyone knows me and you know I work with folks with special needs when I'm not teaching. So a lot of times I'll leave and go there and I'm telling you I always feel like I had a HIIT exercise high intensity because I do this all day. And this is actually light. But I love it. It helps me and the kids. Like I said, if you're willing to play with the kids and actually get out there and do that, it amps everything up. The kids really enjoy that. And I love that. I wouldn't want to. What you do, your organization, your ability to lead, the tone that you set is world-class. I like getting out here and doing this kind of stuff. You know, you have a much bigger-picture perspective. And if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here. And your vision and leadership is unparalleled.
Anthony Godfrey:
We're talking now with some of the first-grade students in Coach Wright's class. Tell me your name and tell me what you love most about Coach Wright's class.
Motlee:
My name is Motlee and what I like about most of Coach Wright's class is that he makes up fun games.
Anthony Godfrey:
What's one of the best games that you play in his class?
Motlee:
Every one. Everything
Anthony Godfrey:
All of them were fun?
Motlee:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. How about you?
Giselle:
My name's Giselle and I love Shark Attack.
Anthony Godfrey:
Shark Attack. How does Shark Attack work?
Giselle:
Well, you have to have a stick and you have to tag somebody and then they have to sit down and whoever gets a ball, then they have to stand up.
Anthony Godfrey:
That sounds fun. How about you?
Aaron:
My name's Aaron and I love trying to jump the rope.
Anthony Godfrey:
Jump the rope? How does that work?
Aaron:
You have to jump like a rope.
Anthony Godfrey:
You hold it in each hand and flip it around and you jump when it hits the ground? How many times can you do it in a row?
Aaron:
Twenty.
Anthony Godfrey:
Twenty? That's pretty awesome.
Penelope:
My name's Penelope and my favorite thing to play with Coach Wright is bullet burst.
Anthony Godfrey:
And what's bullet burst? Is that the one with the story?
Penelope:
Yeah, with the story and when he says bullet first we go up there and see who’s the first one to get down the hill.
Anthony Godfrey:
What is it like having Coach Wright for a teacher? What's he like?
Penelope:
Great.
Anthony Godfrey:
Giselle, what's Coach Wright like?
Giselle:
He is mostly fun and nice.
Anthony Godfrey:
Aaron, what's Coach Wright like?
Aaron:
He's fun. He's really nice and he's the best teacher.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the stories that he uses in class.
Aaron:
Like when we're playing the game bullet burst, he says sometimes he uses our names. He like tells a little funny jokes and when he says, when he's at the end he just yells bullet burst.
Anthony Godfrey:
And then you run as fast as you can.
Aaron:
Yeah, and me see who can get down the fastest.
Anthony Godfrey:
You guys think you can outrun him?
Students:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, you can, huh?
Students:
Mm-hmm.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, you guys are pretty fast.
Students:
I've done it before.
Me too.
I did a Fun Run with our teacher. I did the most laps in the whole class.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, how many laps was that?
Student:
Ten.
Anthony Godfrey:
You did ten laps?
Student:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
The most of your class, huh?
Student:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
And you beat Coach Wright?
Student:
He didn't do it.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, he didn't do that one?
Student:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.
Student:
He didn't do the Fun Run.
Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks for talking with me guys.
Students:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you will do today. We'll see you out there.
[Music]
16 min
June 20, 2024 Episode 250: No Illusion for Digital Media Students Winning Very Real and Prestigious State Award for Virtual Reality Game
They used their considerable talents to create a virtual reality game which is now receiving some amazing accolades.
On this episode of the Supercast, meet the Digital Media students at JATC North who designed a three-dimensional virtual reality game that’s garnering a lot of attention. Find out how their game transports people into a different world using the illusion of being there.
Audio Transcription
[Music]
Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They used their considerable talents to create a virtual reality game, which is now receiving some amazing accolades.
On this episode of the Supercast, meet the Digital Media students at JATC North who designed a three-dimensional virtual reality game that's garnering a lot of attention. Find out how their game transports people into a different world using the illusion of being there.
[Music]
We are at JATC North to learn more about the Digital Media program. We're here with the instructor and some students who have won State and are headed to Nationals. So first introduce yourself and tell me a little bit about the course you teach.
Lisa Wadzeck:
Hi, my name is Lisa Wadzeck. I teach Digital Media at the JATC. Basically, it's a place where you can come and be creative and research all the careers that revolve around being creative and working in technology, such as animation and video game production.
Anthony Godfrey:
And it's that combination, creativity and technology. There's a wide range of opportunity within that combination. We spoke briefly on a previous podcast and we've been wanting to come back for a while now. And this award-winning group is the best excuse ever to come back and talk with you more about what happens in the class. But for those who may not have heard before, tell me a little bit about the range of student interests that you meet in this class and the range of students who might be interested in taking a course like this.
Lisa Wadzeck:
We have everyone that just loves to draw and hasn't really thought about what careers might be related to that and can research where they can go with graphic design and illustration and magazine layout, those types of things, to students who've had programming but want to see how to apply that to making video games and creating their own assets to make the video games. We have several students interested in audio production and video production. We've got 2D and 3D animations. We have several students who are interested in making their own films, writing their own music and score for films or just music for bands in general, photography.
Anthony Godfrey:
So there are all kinds of outlets for creativity in the class.
Lisa Wadzeck:
Absolutely.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me a little bit about the competition and project that we're going to explore today.
Lisa Wadzeck:
So one thing that's really neat, and I am so proud of my students for, is because this is a new technology, I do not have any training in this. We've had to dive in together and when I say together, mostly the students have researched how to make this work. My program does have some game design background but making that work on a VR is a different approach with the types of code and things that you need to use. So they've had to go out and research what works best to make the mechanics and the activities that they want to experience.
But ultimately they took a theme from the Technology Student Association they gave that was encouraging students to be more healthy and physically active. They completely planned this original game of what is the experience going to be like. What is it going to look like? What do we need to model? What do we need to code? And then also come up with their own plan of deadlines and responsibilities and work together in a team of six to create a single project. Which in K-12 education most people think group projects are kind of hard because there are a lot of issues that kind of come with that. But in the creative industry that is absolutely what you're doing. You are working as a team. So we try to do as many things that encourage building those skills as a team and these guys just rocked it.
Anthony Godfrey:
Fantastic. So what's the name of the competition or the category in which they–
Lisa Wadzeck:
It's VR experience through the Technology Student Association and I believe the name of their game is Bouldering.
Anthony Godfrey:
Bouldering. Alright, let's find out about Bouldering. Introduce yourself, tell me your name, the school that you're from, and what it was that led you to take this class.
London Baker:
My name is London Baker, I'm from Copper Hills and I think what led me to take this class was probably the graphic design part of it. There was a, at my middle school they talked about JATC and the Digital Media program and all of the examples they gave was people working on the Cintiq tablets and drawing and I was like I want to do that. Sounds awesome.
Anthony Godfrey:
Good. That's helpful for me to know that because I always want as many students as possible to know about the amazing opportunities here, and you say Digital Media and I worry that they don't realize just how many opportunities are embedded in that. So I'm glad to know that those middle school visits really help and I'm glad you're here. How about for you, introduce yourself and tell me a little bit about why you're here.
Marissa Pierce:
I'm Marissa Pierce and I'm from the West Jordan High School. I heard about JATC somewhere along the lines of last year, I don't know where. But I figured that I wouldn't have anything to do since I did a lot of my classes already so I chose to go and try to be a part of JATC and it worked. I liked the Cintiqs and the pictures of the website so I would go into Digital Media two weeks after joining JATC like being there.
Anthony Godfrey:
And where are the Cintiqs? What is that exactly?
Marissa Pierce:
They are those fancy things. Oh, so that's the device, that's the computer that you're using to create on. I'm looking forward to seeing how that works. Okay, introduce yourself.
Josh Copp:
I'm Josh Copp, I'm from West Jordan High School. I came to JATC mostly for the animation stuff. I wanted to try it out, that was what I wanted to do and I've really been into it. I had some experience with the 3D modeling program Maya before and I've really expanded upon that, and I've also done some 2D animation. And I've just, I've really enjoyed my time just learning other things other than animation as well here.
Anthony Godfrey:
What was your exposure to Maya before being in this program?
Josh Copp:
I took a private class outside of school. That's how I was first introduced.
Anthony Godfrey:
Great. I don't have any idea what Maya is but I'm glad that it was a gateway to getting you here.
Josh Copp:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
How about you?
Noah Campbell:
I am Noah Campbell, I am a senior from Bingham High School and this is my second year at JATC. Last year I was able to do the programming portion and I was able to participate in the video game design and go to the competition that we took first in this year. And then I really enjoyed being able to work on video games last year and I was like, I kind of really like all this computer stuff so I decided to use my creativity side and join this class after doing the programming. I decided last year before doing the programming that I would do programming first, get all those skills down, and then I'd be able to come into this class, have a little bit more fun, and be creative about it and we've been able to work on this awesome project.
Anthony Godfrey:
Add creativity to the programming and technological side.
Noah Campbell:
Add the creativity side and combine them to make cool projects.
Anthony Godfrey:
Great. Well, tell me a little bit about the project, Bouldering.
Noah Campbell:
So what we have over here next to this computer, this is the main computer that I've been working on. We're using Unity to make the video game and kind of organize everything. We have a lot of different softwares like Maya that they've been using. Maya is a modeling software and that's where we make all these models. So if you see, this is one of our main maps right here and it's kind of like this mystical mushroom island that you can kind of see.
Anthony Godfrey:
So you use Maya, the modeling in Maya to create those mushrooms.
Noah Campbell;
To make these and then we transfer them over and we're able to upload them onto here and then I can go through here. I can work with lighting, I can work with making it look visually well and then more so putting in the game mechanics and the physical actual things of the VR right here.
Anthony Godfrey:
So when you're participating in this game or playing this game, is it educational at the same time that it is entertaining? What exactly is the point of the game?
Noah Campbell:
So like Ms. Wadzeck said earlier, the main point of the competition and the op-ed that they gave us was creating it for physical activity to encourage it for younger kids. So we talked as a team and we decided we need to make it so it's kid-friendly and then we need to make it so somehow physical activity gets in there. And the first thing, well one of the first things that came to our mind was climbing. We thought climbing, like rock climbing, playing on playgrounds, all sorts of stuff, that's a really good way to get in physical activity and using a VR, being able to climb in VR would be awesome. That's where we got our name Bouldering from, from the actual physical activity you would find outside jumping around on rocks and actually climbing.
Anthony Godfrey:
So it'll be virtual climbing. Is there any virtual falling involved?
Noah Campbell:
So in regards to falling, and this was actually something that was brought up, because you can actually fall in some areas on this. And we don't want to scare the kids that are playing. This is meant to encourage education. So we were able to come up with this really cool animation that we're working to implement. And basically, when the character falls, let's say you climb up to a really high height on one of the levels and you just fall, he's going to pull out this umbrella and then he's going to glide down on this umbrella and it's just going to kind of reset him at the beginning of the level.
Anthony Godfrey:
I like that.
Noah Campbell:
So it's not violent, it's not scary, it doesn't cause any problems with you wearing the VR and making you sick and stuff like that.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about what happens next. You took State, London tell me a little bit about the state competition and going to Nationals.
London Baker:
Well, the state competition was kind of stressful.
Anthony Godfrey:
And what did that involve, what did that look like that day?
London Baker:
So we just had to turn in all of our planning stuff. And it was like there were two rounds of competition where we would turn in our planning stuff and then we would go to a second round. Then they would actually play our games and talk to us about it and then they would do the final judging and see who won.
Anthony Godfrey:
So multiple people played your game and you were waiting for them to judge other people and all of that. So it's a little bit difficult. There's that anticipation that keeps building as you wait for them to come and work on your game in particular.
London Baker:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, things turned out. So now when is Nationals and where are you headed?
Josh Copp:
It's June 25th and it's taking place in Orlando, Florida. I'm also currently working on some new music for the game and sound effects just to add a little bit more polish to the game. For another level we're designing it's like a medieval castle-like level and I'm designing some houses for this village outside of the castle. I'll probably also put in some other items and help around by actually implementing things you can climb in the level and you know make it a game instead of just a pretty scene.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, instead of just an environment that you enter. So there's the game component of it.
Stay with us. When we come back, I try out the award-winning game created by the Digital Media students at JATC North.
Break:
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Anthony Godfrey:
Can you give me the VR experience of Bouldering?
Noah Campbell:
Yes, I can.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Do I sit here?
Noah Campbell:
You can actually, we can go stand right over here.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh yeah, that's right. It's VR. So I'm just going to hook up on the headset. See I was going to sit down at the computer that tells you how advanced my video game skills are.
Noah Campbell:
So this is an Oculus 3 and so this is one of the newer ones. I think it's the most recent one.
Anthony Godfey:
I did not use an Oculus 3 when I was in my high school computer class just, you know, to clarify.
Noah Campbell:
It's really cool that they added this competition because, well, last year was the first time they added it and so there was a lot of new stuff that was kind of made. I'm drawing the areas right now so you don't run into anybody.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, you're turning around in a circle with the Switch controllers in your hand. Okay. Or the equivalent. Or the Wii. They're like Wii controllers. Yeah.
Josh Copp:
Yeah, you got it.
Anthony Godfrey:
At least I'm not referencing Pong in the Atari 2600, you know, which I still have at home by the way, if you want to see any antiques. I do have those.
Noah Campbell:
So it might be a little tight.
Anthony Godfrey:
Should I put these on?
Noah Campbell:
Yeah, you have to put them on.
Anthony Godfrey:
It is going to be tight. I have a little bit of a...
Noah Campbell:
You’ll hold on to these and those will go back and forth and this will go up and down.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh wow. You guys created all of this?
Noah Campbell:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's pretty amazing. It looks like a pretty fun play place. There's a sandbox. This is very soothing actually.
Noah Campbell:
So right now you're inside of the playground which is kind of our tutorial map and that's kind of the way, and that's our very, very, very small first level.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.
Noah Campbell:
So that's what's going to kind of teach people like hey this is how you're supposed to like do this, this is how you're supposed to climb. And so you can use the joysticks on your controllers and those will help you look around and move around and stuff like that.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, so I have a controller in my left and in my right hand and I'm just using the little joystick. Do you still call it a joystick?
Noah Campbell:
Yeah, you would call it a joystick. Or Joy-Con.
Anthony Godfrey:
Joy-Con. Okay, I'm walking up to the stairs. It's very colorful. I have to describe the scene so there's a big playset kind of like you'd find in a public playground except it's super huge. It's more awesome than any of the ones you'd see in reality. Pink clouds and green grass and a little sandbox and it's all fenced in with a nice white picket fence. I kind of want to go up the blue stairs into the playset. Can I do that?
Noah Campbell:
You can. So if you just walk up to the stairs you'll just automatically move up them.
Anthony Godfrey:
I walk up. Oh, I'm kind of tall. Do I need to duck down to get in?
Noah Campbell:
Yep. So this is one of our things—
Anthony Godfrey:
So I duck down. Alright.
Noah Campbell:
This is one of the things that have been added for the physical activity.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.
Noah Campbell:
So it actually requires you to do like actual movements and stuff like that. Like ducking and moving your hands to actually reach them.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Very cool. So I'm going to grab and hold down this button. It's giving me, so I'm now inside the playset and it's giving me instructions on what to do. So let me just say right now that it actually feels like I'm going to walk off the edge of the earth because of the way you have designed this. I'm like, okay, don't fall into the big white nothingness. That's what I start my day with every day. “Don't fall into the big white nothingness.” How do I get back in? I feel like I'm going the wrong way.
Noah Campbell:
Actually, the only way to get back in is to fall off. Just kind of like you would fall in a role game. That will reset you at the beginning.
Anthony Godfrey:
So I have to learn how to fall like I was saying earlier. Okay. Do I just keep walking into the void?
Noah Campbell:
Just keep walking and then you'll drop down from the island and...
Anthony Godfrey:
Honestly, it feels really weird to drop down, to walk out into this void. It's telling me not to. Okay. I think I'm going to stop because otherwise, I'm going to hurt myself or someone near me.
Noah Campbell:
I can take those controllers.
Anthony Godfrey:
The music is really cool too. It's like it has a retro feel but kind of a reassuring feel also which I know is what you're going for. Wow. That is really cool. That is impressive stuff you guys. That was very immersive.
London Baker:
Once you get past the tutorial level, we have the Mushroom Mountain level which has a lot more different climbing things. In that level we have monkey bars and rope, but in the Mushroom Mountain level we also have things like ladders and you can climb into the mushrooms. And there's another level where there's a mountain but then you have to climb like upside down. It's really scary.
Anthony Godfrey:
Can you just get me into that general experience?
Noah Campbell:
I can run to that really quickly. Get to you there.
Anthony Godfrey:
Just run to it really quickly. If you wait for me to be able to find my way, it might take a minute. Talk about what led you to take this class. Now that you've experienced it and you've had this level of success, what do you want to do next?
Josh Copp:
I'm going to keep going to school, college and what not and I'm going to try to get a bachelor's degree in animation. I'm just hoping that I can keep on animating whether that be 2D or 3D.
Anthony Godfrey:
Fantastic. How about you London?
London Baker:
I signed up for Digital Media next year so I'm going to be doing it again. I wanted to do it again because I really like this class and I feel like I've learned a lot and doing it again I'll be able to learn a lot more.
Marissa Pierce:
I think I'm going to keep going to college and then figure things out from there. For sure after taking this class I have figured out what I like to do. So fortunately I'm not planning to be a doctor because I didn't want to. I'm just going to stick to 3D modeling assets, possibly animation, something to do with art, like drawing, but mostly just 3D modeling.
Anthony Godfrey:
So this is something you want to do as a career?
Marissa Pierce:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wonderful. How about you Noah?
Noah Campbell:
Sorry.
Anthony Godfrey:
I'm asking this question while Noah is getting me to the magic mushroom.
Noah Campbell:
I’m almost there, I'm on the zip line right now.
Anthony Godfrey:
You need to focus. I don't want you to fall.
Noah Campbell:
You're good. So the reason, what I plan to do after this, I've always been interested in video games. I would love to work in the video game design industry and create entertainment for people. One of the cool things about video games is when you're working in it you're not just working on one specific thing like drawing and stuff like that. You're working on all these different things. Music production, you're working with a team, you're making 3D models, you're making levels, you're designing everything, you got to write documents. And it's a lot of different skills all kind of combined into one. Lots of programming skills, so there's a lot of different stuff that's pretty cool with it.
Anthony Godfrey:
Awesome.
Noah Campbell:
That's kind of my plan after I graduate this year.
Anthony Godfrey:
Let me try it out here.
Noah Campbell:
This is the beginning of the mushroom level. You should be able to see it. And then there's your controller so you can move using the joysticks. Don't fall off the ledge. This one's way different than where you were.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow, this is cool. Is that kind of a purple ocean beyond the mushrooms?
Noah Campbell:
Yes, it is.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. It's kind of an Alice in Wonderland feel. I'm walking up to the big mushroom. Oh, there we go. I got it over the hump. Now I want to climb up. So do I have to put my hands up to climb?
Noah Campbell:
Yep. And you'll just grab on it. You'll have the big mushroom probably right up there. And there's another like a little ladder. And that's just kind of a fun little one leading to a fairy house.
Anthony Godfrey:
I'm not going to make you all wait while I try to climb the ladder. But this looks fantastic. I like the lanterns hanging up throughout, you know? Kind of gives it a mystical feel. Well, this is super cool. I love this level. This looks really… Oh, and I love the prisms or the kind of geodes that are out there. It looks like this could go on forever. And I like the plants that are coming up with the little kind of tendrils. Reality is not going to be quite the same now that I've been in virtual reality.
Well, congratulations on your success. I wish you the best in June at the competition. And thanks for spending time with me. This is really awesome.
Noah Campbell:
Thank you. Our goal is to take 1st and represent Jordan and JATC.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, good luck to you. Thanks very much. I like your chances.
London Baker:
Thank you.
Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you will do today. We'll see you out there.
[Music]
23 min
June 12, 2024 Episode 249: Beloved Brasilandia Celebrated at Bluffdale Elementary School
It is a beloved tradition at Bluffdale Elementary School now in its tenth year.
On this episode of the Supercast, we take you inside an educational celebration called Brasilandia. Hear how the event helps students use and develop new skills in the Portuguese language and how it enhances their love of the Portuguese DLI program at the school. It is a traditional taste of Brazilian culture and food that everyone has definitely grown to love over the past decade.
Audio Transcription
[Music]
Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It is a beloved tradition at Bluffdale Elementary School, now in its tenth year.
On this episode of the Supercast, we take you inside an educational celebration called Brasilandia. Hear how this event helps students use and develop new skills in Portuguese, and it provides a sample of Brazilian culture and food that everyone has grown to love over the past many years.
[Music]
We're here with Edson and Jessica at Bluffdale Elementary School. Edson was the teacher of the year for Bluffdale Elementary, and Jessica is the first teacher of the year for DLI District-wide. So congratulations to you both, and thank you for inviting us here today for the festival. Tell us a little bit about what the Portuguese Dual Language Immersion Festival is all about today.
Edson Rabelo:
Thank you so much for coming today. This Brasilandia started more than eight years ago with the former DLI teachers in our school. They had this whole idea to have the students engaged in activities that are usually played in Brazil and in some other Portuguese-speaking countries. After some years, we decided to have six graders managing and being the leaders in this group. So now they are the leaders engaging the leaders' students to speak even more Portuguese.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's fantastic. Tell me a little bit about the activities that are planned for today.
Jessica Bell’Aver:
So they have ten activities, ten stations all over here in the field, and then the DLI teachers organized the kids in ten groups. So they rotate in these ten activities. We have Peteca, we have Pular Córda, Bambolê, Futebol, the authentic soccer, the Brazilian soccer, and we have the Jogo do Balde and other activities that are typical from Brazil.
Then after they play here for about an hour or so, they go back to their classrooms to taste some of the authentic Brazilian food, to have a small taste of what it tastes like. And then they enjoy with their classmates in the classroom and dance to some songs from Brazil as well.
Anthony Godfrey:
So you're going to appeal to all of the senses today?
Jessica Bell’Aver:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tasting and listening and all kinds of things.
Jessica Bell’Aver:
Tasting, listening, dancing, speaking, yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
So tell me about some of the activities going on. Let's talk about probably the most traditional activity, one that listeners might be least familiar with.
Edson Rabelo:
So we have Peteca. It's something similar to badminton. But it's usually in Brazil, since it's connected to some indigenous culture origins, so they keep playing like in a group or in two people, and then they keep throwing that to one another. So usually when we see the Peteca, we can see some feathers on the top.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, very colorful feathers. Is that a weight on the bottom of it?
Edson Rabelo:
Yeah, that is a weight on the bottom. Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
And so you're throwing it to someone while they are hula hooping?
Edson Rabelo:
Oh, that's the kids. They are like really creative. So they are like using the hula hoop to play in a different way.
Anthony Godfrey:
OK.
Edson Rabelo:
So we just hold one side and then we just...
Anthony Godfrey:
So you hold it just under the feathers. Am I doing this right, guys?
Students:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
All right. And then you hit it?
Students:
Yeah, you just can’t let it hit the ground.
Anthony Godfrey:
So you're hitting it to each other. Oh, it's like hacky– Hey!
Edson Rabelo:
There you go! Good job, good job.
Anthony Godfrey:
I got three in a row. That felt OK. So it's like hacky sack with your hand and it has feathers on top of it.
Edson Rabelo:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, kind of like that?
Student:
Yeah, pretty much.
Anthony Godfrey:
And you guys were adding hula hoop to it as well?
Student:
So you can like hula hoop like this, and then you could try to like hit it into the hula hoop.
Anthony Godfrey:
OK.
Edson Rabelo:
They are creative.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, yes. All right. I made it. I did not see this and think, you know what, I need to find a way to make this more challenging. But you did and somehow... OK, let's try this. Somehow it's a whole new game. Oh, hey, two in a row. All right. I'm stopping there because I'm ahead. All right. That was fun. Thank you, guys. This looks... Well, the kids are having a blast, that's for sure.
Edson Rabelo:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
And soccer, of course, is a very important sport in Brazil.
Edson Rabelo:
It is. It's huge in Brazil.
Jessica Bell’Aver:
Yeah, it's very traditional. We play here like in twos. So we have like this small set of goals so they can play and take turns. Like groups of five or six students can play easily in this setup. And of course, this is very popular. They love this station here.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. These kids are good.
Jessica Bell’Aver:
I love the connections that they make, like the American football, the Brazilian soccer. So it's nice to play both.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, that's wonderful.
Jessica Bell’Aver:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
Now you told me about the sixth graders running things. How did the event change once you put the sixth graders in charge?
Edson Rabelo:
So it changed because I could observe the students more engaged to participate. And they were like, “Oh, we are the leaders now”. We are like on the top of the elementary grades here.
So we are engaging these little kids to speak the Portuguese language that they have been studying since first grade. They are the ones organizing like the posters. They drew, they colored the posters. So they did everything like the games that we were organizing. They were like setting up yesterday in my classroom like, “Okay, teacher, we have enough games here. So we have we need some more here.” So today, this morning they were carrying everything outside. So they were leading everything.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's fantastic.
Edson Rabelo:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's another layer to the experience they're having and the opportunity for leadership.
Edson Rabelo:
Yes. You know, speaking in Portuguese. That's what we do. They know that when they talk to the teacher, it needs to be in Portuguese. So that's the situation like the talk and questions and everything needs to be in Portuguese.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's really cool.
Jessica Bell’Aver:
Yeah.
Edson Rabelo:
So important.
Anthony Godfrey:
Now you teach first graders.
Jessica Bell’Aver:
Right.
Anthony Godfrey:
So you teach them right from the start.
Jessica Bell’Aver:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
We were talking earlier about how they will listen and listen and then suddenly bam, the words start coming out of their mouths.
Jessica Bell’Aver:
Right.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about watching that evolution where someone comes in and doesn't speak any Portuguese perhaps and then by the end of the year. Talk to me about that transformation.
Jessica Bell’Aver:
Yeah. It's amazing to see the growth. And in settings like this where they are open, they are free to use and to put in practice everything that they learned. It's so amazing to see how they can create because in the classroom we see a lot of growth, but they are comfortable with the setting. They are comfortable with the materials. They know their routine.
But here is a completely new situation. It's a real-life situation for them. So they come with language. They have to come with everything that they learn and put in practice and solve their problems here. Communicate what they want to communicate in the games and talk to their friends here. So it's kind of a huge jump when you see what they are doing in class. They can do their math, they can do their science, they can use their sentences. But they also can communicate and solve problems here in a real-life situation.
Anthony Godfrey:
A real-world application for what they are learning.
Jessica Bell’Aver:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
It's really cool. And what I understand is that there is a high retention rate. Once someone comes into the program, students tend to stay in the dual language Portuguese program here at Bluffdale.
Jessica Bell’Aver:
That's correct. Yeah. They feel that they belong to this program, to this community, and they create strong connections with friends and with the teachers. And I like that as they go from grade to grade, they know that this event is coming up and they are getting ready. They are familiar with changing some of the games throughout the year so they can experience different games, not all the same. And the sixth graders, of course, they get ready for middle school. They can work on their leadership, on their protagonism to get ready for middle school.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me, how did we get so fortunate to have you in Bluffdale, Utah, teaching Portuguese in a dual language immersion program? What brought you to Bluffdale Elementary?
Edson Rabelo:
So Jessica and I, we are from the same state in Brazil, Paraná. So we were living in different cities, but we connected here. So that's where we are learning together. We had this agreement between Utah and the state of Paraná. So both the Utah Board of Education and the Board of Education from Paraná, they have this agreement where they can bring some teachers to teach here in Utah and have this experience. So we can come and stay for three years or we can stay longer. So that's what we decided, to stay longer because we love doing what we do here.
Anthony Godfrey:
I'm so glad you decided to stay longer. I'm so glad you decided to come here. It's no wonder you are both award-winning teachers. Thank you for providing these incredible experiences throughout the year for these students.
Jessica Bell’Aver:
Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here, to be able to do our job, like work as a teacher, as we were doing in Brazil, but in a different country. Being able to work with our own language, it means a lot to us. We feel very fortunate.
Anthony Godfrey:
It's a huge positive impact for these students. So thank you very much.
Edson Rabelo:
Thank you so much for coming.
Anthony Godfrey:
Thank you so much.
[Music]
Stay with us. When we come back more with Bluffdale Elementary School and their Dual Language Immersion Program.
[Music]
Break:
In Jordan School District, we like to support students in and outside the classroom along with their families. That's where the Jordan Family Education Center comes in, offering support services and a wide variety of classes for students and their families, free of charge. You can take a class called Blues Busters for children feeling sad or worried. Just Breathe is a class that helps students reduce stress. Or how about a class that supports parents in helping their children make and keep good friends. There are also support groups and free counseling, all provided by Jordan School District school psychologists, counselors, and school psychology interns. To find out how you can benefit from free family support services offered by the Jordan Family Education Center, call 801-565-7442 or visit guidance.jordandistrict.org.
[Music]
Anthony Godfrey:
We're talking now with a few students in the program here at Bluffdale Elementary. Tell me your name, what grade you're in, and what you love most about the DLI program.
Welling;
My name is Welling. I'm in third grade, and the thing that I like most about the DLI program is that I get to learn another language. Lots of my relatives went to Brazil for their mission and so I got to speak with them.
James:
My name is James. I'm in third grade, and my favorite thing about the DLI program is I can know lots of different things in different languages, including math and reading. So that I can talk when I go to Brazil if I go.
Frankie:
Hi, my name is Frankie, and I'm in third grade. My favorite thing about the DLI is that you can have your own secret language around your family if they don't know Portuguese. And you don't, like, whenever you're mad at somebody, you're like, "Ugh!" and you can only say it in Portuguese, and they won't understand it.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow, okay.
Piper:
My name is Piper, and I'm in third grade, and I just love how I get to learn about the Brazil culture, and that's why I love the DLI a lot.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me, I don't speak any Portuguese at all. Tell me a favorite word, or tell me a sentence in Portuguese.
Welling:
“Olá”.
Anthony Godfrey:
What does that mean?
Welling:
“Hello”.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. How about you? Can you teach me a word or a phrase?
James:
“Eu amo matemática”.
Anthony Godfrey:
Is that "I love math"?
James:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, very nice. Okay, say it again.
James:
“Eu amo matemática”.
Anthony Godfrey:
“Eu amo matemática”. Okay.
Frankie:
I like this word, and it's, I don't remember what it's called in English, but it's “paralelepípedo”.
Anthony Godfrey:
“Paralelepípedo”.
Frankie:
“Paralelepípedo”.
Anthony Godfrey:
I can't say it like you do. What does it mean?
Frankie:
It means cobblestone.
Anthony Godfrey;
Cobblestone.
Frankie:
I don't know why I like it.
Anthony Godfrey:
That is a cool word. That is a cool word.
Frankie:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
How about you?
Piper:
“Eu amo português” which is "I love Portuguese."
Anthony Godfrey:
"I love Portuguese." Fantastic. So, are you guys excited about learning Portuguese all the way through middle school and into high school?
Students:
Yeah.
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
And do your friends speak Portuguese outside of school? Do you speak Portuguese with people who are in the program?
Frankie:
I speak it with my dad. That's it.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, you speak with your dad? So your dad speaks it? Is there anyone at home or any friends you speak with?
Piper:
I could speak it with my brother that also goes here.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, yeah? Oh, good.
James:
I speak it with my two brothers that do the DLI, my dad and most of my friends.
Anthony Godfrey:
And you said you talked to family members that have gone on missions that now speak Portuguese?
Welling:
Mm-hmm. And also I talk to my friends at soccer because they're in second grade in the DLI.
Anthony Godfrey:
What would you say about the teachers in DLI?
Welling:
Super nice, and they helped me a lot.
James:
They helped me learn the Portuguese language, and they were really nice when doing it. They didn't, like, yell at me if I got something wrong.
Frankie:
What I've noticed myself doing is that I've been improving on Portuguese and on math. And what I love about my teachers is that if I do something wrong, they'll help me through it. And even if I don't understand it, they'll still help me. And then eventually I'll start to understand and learn how to do it.
Piper:
What I loved about my teachers is how they helped me know that mistakes are proving that you're trying to do something.
Anthony Godfrey:
I love that. It sounds like you're all learning a ton. Tell me, how do you say goodbye and thank you?
James:
“Tchau, obrigado”
Anthony Godfrey:
“Tchau, obrigado”
Students:
“Tchau”.
Anthony Godfrey:
Thank you very much. Thanks for talking with me. “Tchau”.
Students:
“Tchau”.
Anthony Godfrey:
We're talking now with a couple of parents who have two students in the program. Introduce yourselves and tell me about your experience.
Andrew Bateman:
So, Andrew Bateman, my wife, Luci Bateman. I served my mission in Brazil, speak Portuguese. My wife's from Brazil. So, Portuguese has been a big part of our life.
Luci Bateman:
And it used to be our secret language at home.
Andrew Bateman:
It was.
Luci Bateman:
Where we could, you know, talk about what presents we were going to get them for Christmas and their birthdays until they became fluent because of this incredible program. So, our two oldest go to Bluffdale Elementary School. One's in third and one's in first grade. And we have our third daughter starting kindergarten. We want all of our kids to go through the program because the teachers are phenomenal. I love that each of them are from a different part of Brazil. So, my kids get all of the different accents. And that's how you know they're truly fluent.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, the different accents.
Luci Bateman:
They understand all and they're so different from the northern part of Brazil, southern part of Brazil, central. The way they pronounce things is completely different. And my kids can understand them all. I still have grandmas that live in Brazil and my kids will FaceTime them and just fluently speak Portuguese to them.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.
Luci Bateman:
And what we love also about the program is not just the language exposure, but also the cultural exposure.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, to be able to understand different accents–
Andrew Bateman:
Yeah, it’s cool.
Anthony Godfrey:
Not just the language, but different variations of the language is pretty amazing. That is a deep level of understanding. And your grandmas must love talking with these kids.
Luci Bateman:
Oh, they love it. And then we had, we went to a Festa Junina, it's like this big party that happens all over the country in the month of June, on Friday at the high school in Riverton.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.
Luci Bateman:
And my daughters were dancing, you know, dances from the northern part of Brazil that I never learned as a kid growing up because–
Andrew Bateman:
In Brazil.
Luci Bateman:
I’m from Rio. Yeah. And I graduated high school in Brazil, but it was like Rio and Sao Paulo. So they're learning about regions that I didn't even learn as a kid. And we sent videos to my family and they were so excited and so proud. Anyway, so we just got our passports because our kids- renewed their passports- because our kids are dying to go to Brazil now and order the food by themselves and talk to other kids in Portuguese. Because last time we went to a country, we went to Portugal, a country that speaks Portuguese, they didn't know the language yet. So now they're dying to go.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. When they go to Brazil, it'll feel like it's a country built just for them.
Andrew Bateman:
Yeah, they will.
Luci Bateman:
Exactly, and they'll feel like they're part of it.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, thank you very much for talking with me.
Andrew Bateman:
You bet.
Anthony Godfrey:
And hopefully, lots of parents can hear this and sign up for the program as well. Even if you don't have a connection to Brazil or the Portuguese language, this is a deeply enriching program for students. And like you said, fantastic teachers top to bottom.
Andrew Bateman:
They're amazing. Just to be able to speak another language is huge.
Luci Bateman:
And there's a huge Brazilian community in Utah. There's lots of Brazilian restaurants and stores. And to be able to connect with more people and talk to more people that don't just speak English is already such a gift.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, absolutely. Well, thanks very much for your time.
Andrew Bateman:
You bet.
Luci Bateman:
Thank you.
Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you'll do today. We'll see you out there.
(upbeat music)
20 min
June 06, 2024 Episode 248: Herriman High Student Musicians Proudly Perform at National Vietnam Veterans Day Parade in Hawaii
It was a huge honor for the Herriman High School Choir, Orchestra, and Tour Concert Band traveling to Hawaii to share their music with military veterans.
On this episode of the Supercast, we talk to the talented students who represented the entire state of Utah with amazing performances at the National Vietnam Veterans Day Parade. They showed their pride and respect, honoring war veterans in such a meaningful way with music. It was an experience that will last a lifetime.
Audio Transcription
[Music]
Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It was a huge honor for the Herriman High School Choir, Orchestra, and Tour Concert Band traveling to Hawaii to share their music with military veterans.
On this episode of the Supercast, we talk with the talented students who represented the entire state of Utah with amazing performances at the National Vietnam Veterans Day Parade. They showed their pride and respect, honoring war Veterans in such a meaningful way with their music. It is an experience that will last a lifetime.
[Music]
We're here at Herriman High School talking with Mr. Howden, our choir director, about a pretty unique experience that students were able to have over spring break. Thanks very much for taking time to talk with us.
Mr. Howden:
Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for having me.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell us about this experience and how it became possible.
Mr. Howden:
So it was about April-May of last year and the company that runs the commemoration historic programs, they reached out to the Time Our Band director asking our marching band if they would come and help commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam Veterans coming home from the Vietnam War. And so the band director was thinking about it and he had talked to me about it, and our orchestra teacher, because once they saw that there was interest from the marching band they're like, "Oh you have a really great music department. We'd like all of you to come if you're interested." So we discussed it and decided that we would present it to the District and the School Board because it was a pretty big trip and we wanted to make sure that we had approval before we really announced it to students.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, it was taking place in Hawaii.
Mr. Howden:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
Policy only allows for travel within the intercontinental United States. So as a result you had to get that approval from the Board. They were enthusiastic about it and gave a thumbs up.
Mr. Howden:
Yeah, so I was a little surprised because it was more money than normally we would do for a tour.
Anthony Godfrey:
Right.
Mr. Howden:
And it was in Hawaii so I didn't think that they would give us the approval, but the School Board was enthusiastic about it. They were excited that we had gotten the invitation and that we would represent all the aspects of music from Herriman and be able to represent our District and the state of Utah.
Anthony Godfrey:
Right, the only school from the state, and there was one from each of the 50 states is that right? Mr. Howden:
So each state had someone that was invited, but if we had for example said no, Utah wouldn't have been represented. So there was actually only five different states with Utah being one of them that was able to come and represent. But we were one of the five.
Anthony Godfrey:
Outstanding. So tell me about– I know the approval was a long time ago so this has been a long time in the making.
Mr. Howden:
Yes, so we initially went to the School Board, I think it was May of last year. And then once we got the approval, we had a parent meeting so the parents could say yes they wanted to have us participate in this, and then we just moved forward with starting making the plans for this last March.
Anthony Godfrey:
And there were a lot of fundraisers as a part of that I assume?
Mr. Howden:
Yes. Because it was such a much larger trip than normal, a normal year, we tried to start fundraising immediately in the summer, and we had several throughout almost every month leading up to the trip.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me how many students went with you. I heard in Board meeting when we honored the group that there were four planes of students.
Mr. Howden:
Yes, so we ended up splitting onto four planes because there was 216 students and then the rest were chaperone parents and staff for the marching band and the teachers so on and so forth.
Anthony Godfrey;
So 216 students.
Mr. Howden:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
All told, how many humans were there along for the ride?
Mr. Howden:
It was 259.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow, you could have chartered your own plane almost for that. Tell me about the performances. What exactly was put together? What was the format? Was it a concert? Was it a parade? How did all that work?
Mr. Howden:
Yes, so one thing that we got to do each group of the choirs, marching band, and orchestra got to perform at Pearl Harbor. That was one of the things that they had set up for us. So we each got a snippet of time to perform outside the USS Missouri. So we did that. That was one of the first things that we did there.
But then the main event was on Friday night of the trip. We had the celebration to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam Veterans coming home. So the choirs sang all together. The orchestra played prelude, and then the marching band played with the other marching bands that were there, and the the navy band that was there. So kind of all of us participated in this big celebration. Then once that was concluded, we kind of made our way over to the the main street where the parade was taking place. Our marching band played in the parade and then the choir and orchestra students walked behind our marching band.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. Yeah, so you didn't walk with the cellos playing. There was not marching violin playing? Mr. Howden:
No, no we just got to smile and wave as the marching band astounded the the audience. We just got to smile and wave.
Anthony Godfrey:
It seems more practical to just walk behind and wave.
Mr. Howden:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
How long have you been a choir director here?
Mr. Howden:
This is my seventh year in Herriman.
Anthony Godfrey:
Seventh year here, and were you a choir director before coming to Herriman?
Mr. Howden:
I did one year in a charter school in South Salt Lake, that was a pretty small charter school, and then came here to Herriman.
Anthony Godfrey:
So in all your years choir tour is a big deal. Travel is a big part of it but this was a unique trip. Tell me what made this trip special compared with some of the trips you've taken before.
Mr. Howden:
So this was unique for a number of reasons. One it was just such a much larger trip. Just the planning and organization side of it was much more intense than a normal year. But I also felt like there was more enthusiasm and excitement from students because of it. And I also think it was unique because normally on our trips we go and have various performance opportunities and we often set up to compete with different schools from around the United States. Kind of doing a a national competition and getting a chance to hear other groups and get feedback from judges that are outside of Utah. But on this particular trip we didn't do any of that. All of our performances and what we were going for was focused on honoring and celebrating these Vietnam Veterans which I think was a really unique opportunity for students. Because obviously, there's lots of things going on in the world but it seems a little bit removed from us now. So I think them being able to see and understand what these Veterans had gone through and how they hadn't been recognized when they came home, which is one of the reasons why Historic Programs have set this up to commemorate and to honor these Veterans who didn't have the most warm welcome when they came home initially.
Anthony Godfrey:
And were there a number of Veterans there for the event?
Mr. Howden:
Yes, there were a number of Veterans there. And actually as part of the ceremony, the leaders from our three different groups were able to take the Hawaii leis and and give them to the different Veterans that were there. They kind of went through and played the different songs– the Navy band played the different songs from each of the different sections of the United States. So like the Air Force, the Army or the Navy, and as they played, when the theme came on, those Veterans stood up. Like if they were in the Navy they stood up and so they went and put the leis on them, and in the Army, and so on and so forth. So I think it was cool for the students to see just how many there were and that these men and women had just fought so valiantly for us, not knowing kind of what was going to happen and not being very warmly welcomed home. I think it was cool for them to see and experience that.
Anthony Godfrey:
We'll talk with some students as well, but tell me what are some other reactions you heard from students and parents what was the impact of this trip.
Mr. Howden:
I think overall that the students had a great experience. I only have heard really positive things from the students just about being able to go to Hawaii, I mean number one that was a really cool experience. And then number two, getting to to see that and to honor the Veterans. And then also just participate in the parade which was also to help honor the Veterans and just see how many people were there and excited to see the students. And being able to represent Utah in such kind of a momentous occasion and event.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, let’s talk with some students about their experiences.
Mr. Howden:
Okay, sounds good.
Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back more about the experiences students at Herriman High had when they traveled to Hawaii for the Vietnam Veterans Day parade.
Break:
Are you looking for a job right now? Looking to work in a fun and supportive environment with great pay and a rewarding career? Jordan School District is hiring. We're currently filling full and part-time positions. You can work and make a difference in young lives and education as a classroom assistant or a substitute teacher. Apply to work in one of our school cafeterias where our lunch staff serves up big smiles with great food every day. We're also looking to hire custodians and bus drivers. In Jordan School District we like to say people come for the job and enjoy the adventure. Apply today at employment.jordandistrict.org
Anthony Godfrey:
We have three different student groups of course, Orchestra, Marching Band, and Choir, and we have a representative from each group. Please introduce yourself and tell me what group you'r from.
Ayla Raguskus:
I'm Ayla Raguskus I'm from the Orchestra.
Emily Workman:
I'm Emily Workman and I'm from Choir.
Easton Jettie:
And I'm Easton Jettie from the Marching Band.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the anticipation over the year. How did it feel just thinking about going to Hawaii and getting to honor Veterans of the Vietnam War?
Ayla Raguskus:
Well, it was very exciting having it announced at the end of last year, it was something to look forward to. I think for all three of us having our senior trip be in Hawaii is just super incredible, super fun. It was just exciting. Something to look forward to all year and prepare for because I know we all worked very hard preparing music for each of our groups to be able to perform and honor the Veterans.
Emily Workman:
I know for me it was really exciting at the beginning of the year too. And I tried to save all of the money that I could because it was a more expensive trip. I know that when I got there and when we got the opportunity to see the Veterans and be in the parade and be at the ceremony it was one of the most rewarding parts of my senior year and high school career itself. So it was probably one of the most memorable things that has happened to me in school.
Easton Jettie:
Yeah, it was a it was a very neat experience. Something that doesn't really get mentioned a lot is our band director at the beginning of the year actually announced to us that he had stage four cancer, and so unfortunately he wasn't able to go on this trip with us. But it was really cool. Like we just had a really hard year and it kind of just kept piling up and so when this trip got announced like we were just all super excited. We're like “Okay, awesome.” Like this is kind of exactly what we needed and we just want to go represent ourselves in this parade. Especially for those Vietnam Veterans that came home and just didn't get any of that credit.
Anthony Godfrey:
So we did talk in Board Meeting about your band director situation which I'm sure made, as you described, the experience all the more poignant. It sounds like whatever group you were part of it was a ton of work and a ton of saving and fundraising. But it also sounds like it was worth it.
Ayla Raguskus:
Yeah, it was for sure worth it. I know everyone worked really hard with fundraisers and just trying to earn as much money as they could for the trip because it was very important for us to be able to go and honor those Veterans. Because the trip wasn't just for us this time. Like normally we go on tours and it's for a performance or we're just having fun, but this time it was to honor them and that was very special.
Emily Workman:
Yeah, I think one important thing is how the whole music department worked together a lot. I think usually people kind of separate the different departments in the program, but I think a really important part is how we did all come together for this trip and your band director and things like that. I think that's something that shouldn't go unnoticed is how we all worked together.
Anthony Godfrey:
I love that.
Easton Jettie:
Yeah, and that hard work really just paid off. I mean just being there and seeing the Veteran's’ faces and just how happy they were to just be recognized. And just especially a moment for me was when the bagpipes started playing towards the end and it was just like absolute chills. Just kind of seeing their faces and just knowing okay, this is really awesome. This is totally for them.
Anthony Godfrey;
Tell me more about the interactions that you had with Vietnam Veterans. Did it surprise you how impactful that was?
Ayla Raguskus:
It was really cool to see just how many Veterans actually showed up to the ceremony. And as Mr. Howden mentioned, having people place leis on them when their song came on and seeing how impactful it was to be able to be recognized and have all of these students from various states come and just show their support and honor them.
Emily Workman:
Yeah, one part that was really impactful for me was during the ceremony we got to hear from different Veterans and different people. It was really impactful to see the leis be placed on the Veterans and I think the really important part was when the music was being played because it showed them that we still care and we want to honor them. And it also showed us the importance of honoring them. I think everyone learned something that day whether you just heard it or saw it and that was pretty cool.
Eaton Jettie:
Yeah, just mentioning like the speakers that we got to hear from. I actually was able to speak as well. I was sitting up on stage with a couple of those people around them. Just talking to them before the ceremony started and just kind of hearing their stories, where they're from, what they did. Like there was one guy I was sitting next to, and he was actually from Vietnam and I can't remember exactly what his position was, unfortunately, but he just had a very neat story. All of them were just neat stories to tell. Just where they came from and how they got here and what impact they actually did do on the war.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the pieces you performed. Just maybe pick one piece that you prepared with with your group to perform and to honor Veterans.
Ayla Raguskus:
So the Orchestra played a piece called “Point Lookout”. We picked this piece, well our director picked this piece towards the beginning of the year because it has just more of a patriotic feel to it right. We've actually talked a lot about this piece in class and what we kind of want to present while playing it and the feeling we want to give off. We tried to be very, very musical with it because it was for such an important occasion and we really just tried to show the Veterans just how much we were there for them. Yeah, we just talked a lot about how we could bring more to the piece and how we could really perform it.
Anthony Godfrey:
What instrument do you play?
Ayla Raguskus:
I play the viola.
Anthony Godfrey;
And was this a particularly difficult viola piece?
Ayla Raguskus:
There were some parts that were pretty difficult but it was just a lot of teamwork to try to get all the pieces to fit together. Other parts were easy but just having everyone come together and work really hard for the performance that we gave.
Anthony Godfrey:
Great! How about you?
Emily Workman:
So our large acapella choir got to learn a song called “Measure Me, Sky”. It's definitely one of my favorite pieces that I've ever learned. There's a part in the song that says “Sky, be my depth, wind, be my width”, and to me, I kind of put together us going to Hawaii and like that song is–it's definitely for a reason in my opinion because there's no end to that song really. We end it on a super high note and it just keeps going forever and ever. I feel like that can correlate to the Vietnam Veterans and what they did for us. Even though we are remembering them now and we're like celebrating them now, it's because it will go on forever and ever. And I think that's so special to think that the things that we can accomplish and we can do they can also do and they have done and that's really important to me.
Anthony Godfrey:
I love that. And you ended on a high note literally and figuratively
Emily Workman:
Yes, yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
How about for the marching band?
Easton Jetties:
Yeah, so the marching band was a little bit different. We were actually assigned a piece, “Armed Forces on Parade”. Of course we were able to tweak it a little bit and we kind of made it our own version. One of the kind of cool moments when we got there is we knew that we would be playing with the Marine band as well as other different bands that are there as well. So the ones from Texas the ones from California, just from all over. We were all assigned the same song. During the speech portion, right before they were about to play they actually mentioned “Okay, there's different songs we're gonna play here” and they were told to stand up for each of their branch when their song was played for whatever branch of armed forces they were in. And just that moment when kind of the bands began playing. I wasn't able to conduct with them because I was still up on stage, but just kind of seeing it from the front and like everyone, all the Veterans, just standing up to their own respective song was just really awesome to see. Like “Oh, these people really like did serve and this song means a lot to them.”
Anthony Godfrey:
All three of you have practiced and performed music over the years, but I would imagine that this was a particularly impactful performance to see what it meant to the people you were performing for. Thank you very much for spending time. I'm so impressed with each of you and the work you put into this. The impact it had on you. And I'm very proud that you represented Herriman so well, Jordan District and the state of Utah. So thank you very much for working so hard to make this such a great experience.
Students:
Thank you.
Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you'll do today. We'll see you out there.
22 min
May 31, 2024 Episode 247: A College Degree Before Graduating High School? How it Happened for Some Jordan PREP Students
They walked and received a one-year college degree before stepping onto the stage to receive their high school diplomas.
On this episode of the Supercast, meet some incredibly smart and driven students in what is called the Jordan PREP program. Find out how dedicating their summers to a rigorous academic mathematics program starting in sixth-grade, propelled the students to college success, while they were still in high school.
Audio Transcription
[Music]
Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They walked and received a one-year college degree before stepping onto the stage to receive their high school diplomas.
On this episode of the Supercast, meet some incredibly smart and driven students in what is called the Jordan Prep Program. Find out how dedicating their summers to a rigorous academic STEM program starting in sixth grade propelled the students to college success while they were still in high school.
[Music]
We're talking today with Stacy Pierce, the specialist over Jordan Prep. This is a really big day for Jordan Prep. And for you and for a lot of students.
Stacy Pierce:
It is indeed. So my kids have been with us since they were 11 and 12, right out of sixth grade. They've been in the program for seven years and today they walked at Salt Lake Community College with a one-year engineering drafting manufacturing technology degree. I'm very proud of them.
Anthony Godfrey:
So tell us about that degree.
Stacy Pierce:
So for two years they've been taking classes at Salt Lake Community Campus with college professors. They were required to take seven engineering classes and three general education classes. And that's what's required to finish the one-year certificate that moves seamlessly into a four-year degree.
Anthony Godfrey:
So they are graduating with a one-year certificate before they graduate from high school later this month.
Stacy Pierce:
Three weeks from now is their high school graduation and they've already walked at a college graduation.
Anthony Godfrey:
That feels pretty awesome. That is fantastic.
Stacy Pierce;
It feels amazing.
Anthony Godfrey:
For those who don't know or are unfamiliar with the program, talk about Jordan Prep. What does it entail? What's it all about?
Stacy Pierce:
So the Prep program was started 40 years ago in Texas to help underrepresented students prepare themselves for careers in STEM. It's a very math intensive program. The students, I would say, invest four summers of their summer vacations to take very rigorous academic classes. And at the end of that, then they start the college portion of the program.
We have over 50% female students, over 50% minority students, 70% of the students are lower income, and about around 70% also are first-generation college. Their parents did not go to college and they'll be the first generation to go to college.
Anthony Godfrey:
What I love about the Prep program is that it starts students early. It's not, hey, ‘you're a junior, what are some things we can do before you leave to help launch you into a successful future?’ It starts in sixth grade.
Stacy Pierce:
It starts in sixth grade. I was an engineer for 30 years, and when I left to start a STEM program for underrepresented students, I knew we had to grab them then. If we didn't grab them then, it was too late. So luckily, I stumbled onto the Prep program and it was already in Utah at UVU, and we brought it. We're the only school district in the nation with a Prep program.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yes. That's a source of pride for me as well. It's pretty exciting. Tell me, so this is, you know, when you start in sixth grade, that's high motivation. That's longer-term goal setting than most sixth graders are focused on. Tell me about the growth you've seen in these students from sixth grade.
Stacy Pierce:
Oh my goodness. I can't believe it. There's a kid sitting right behind me. And boy, he was hyper. And now his ambition is to score 36 on the ACT and head to MIT. He's just rocking the world. The growth is amazing. I mean, I could tell you personal stories about every single one of these kids.
Anthony Godfrey:
I know you've been very personally involved with each student. During COVID you drove to their homes because when we look at six years, that covers a lot of ground. A lot of things have happened in these last six years. I remember pictures of you driving to their homes, delivering materials, just making sure that the momentum continued. Talk to me about some of the activities that have happened over time.
Stacy Pierce:
So before COVID hit, our retention was almost 100%. The only students we lost were students that moved. During COVID, it was difficult, but we had a very successful year. We did rewrite the curriculum completely so that we could do it online. And we had a very successful year. Then we had some attrition, but we're back up to 95% retention in the program. So I'm very, very proud of that.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me, what are some of the expectations you have for students? What do you hope they got out of the program beyond the degree?
Stacy Pierce:
Okay. So I'll just repeat the words of one of our professors this quarter. He said he's teaching four different classes, and the Jordan Prep students feel comfortable in the college classes. They articulate very well. They're a community. They're a family. They support each other extremely well. And they're very thoughtful in their contributions to the class and not scared to speak up in class. So I think they found their voice. They found a community, and they've raised their academic achievement to a level they can go on and be successful.
Anthony Godfrey:
And the name Jordan Prep, they're really living up to that because they are prepared for great things. This one-year degree really launches them into a lot of opportunities, and I assume they're all interested in continuing in the STEM area. 99% are interested in pursuing STEM. One is joining the Air Force, so his mother can gain citizenship, and then he'll become a mechanical engineer. He scored very high on the entrance exam, and he credits that to Jordan Prep.
Anthony Godfrey:
I think that's tremendous, absolutely tremendous. I know you've poured yourself into this program. How does that feel to see this today?
Stacy Pierce:
It's a dream come true. It's an absolute dream come true. What I wanted to do was help underrepresented students, and it's proven out that this is a program that can help underrepresented students.
Anthony Godfrey:
And has helped these students. We're talking about 11 students who graduated, is that right?
Stacy Pierce:
11 students out of my initial 25, 10 who moved.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, it's fantastic to be here today. I'm so excited to celebrate with you and with them and their families. We'll talk with some students and families and hear their reaction as well, but thank you for all the incredible work that you've done with these students and these families.
Stacy Pierce:
You're welcome. It's been my dream come true. It's a pleasure. Thank you.
Anthony Godfrey:
When we come back, find out more about the Jordan Prep program.
Break:
Does your student want to become a veterinarian, commercial pilot, programmer? Maybe they want to make a difference as a dental assistant. These are just some of the programs offered as part of Career and Technical Education, CTE in Jordan School District. CTE provides the technical skills needed to prepare students for future employment or a successful transition to post-secondary education. Career and Technical Education provides work-based learning opportunities. We partner with industry experts to offer apprenticeships and internships with students working in the real world at real jobs while going to school. The CTE experience starts in our elementary schools with the Kids' Marketplace and grows through middle and high school. To explore all CTE has to offer in Jordan School District visit cte.jordandistrict.org today and let's get your child started on the pathway to a profession.
Anthony Godfrey:
We're talking now with Natalia who just graduated. Tell me about how that experience went.
Natalia:
Well, when I first got there it was kind of weird. I was like, "Where do I go?" And so I kind of just followed everyone and then we were just waiting for everyone, like all our classmates to get there. Everyone kind of all just together and we waited a really long time because we just got there really early and then it was a moment to get in line to go get seated and we were kind of nervous, like me and my friends were kind of nervous and we were going inside the building and I was just like, "No, we're in here." And the vibes felt so cool. We felt really cool walking in there as high school students and not even graduating high school yet and we were already going to graduate college.
Anthony Godfrey:
What went through your mind as you walked across the stage?
Natalia:
It was just kind of surreal, like no way this is happening, like no way I'm graduating and as a first generation student too, it was just like my friends are watching me and it's like I'm doing this for them, you know?
Anthony Godfrey:
And have you felt that your friends were inspired by what you were doing in Jordan Prep?
Natalia:
Yes, my friends have actually told me that before where they're like, "Oh, I wish I did this with you. Like I wish I joined earlier so I could have done this," because some of them kind of don't know where they want to go yet. They're kind of just seeing me as like a role model and like, "Oh, like I'm proud of what you did and like that you were able to accomplish something before you even like everyone else."
Anthony Godfrey:
How have your family reacted to this accomplishment?
Natalia:
My friends are really proud. Like I said, I'm a first generation so my mom never graduated from high school, my dad did, but graduating college is crazy because I don't know, they just, they always like pushed me to work hard in school and like do what they couldn't do and doing it for them, like every time I wanted to give up it was just like, "No, like you should do it, keep going, like your parents never were able to do this so like you should do it for them," and I saw, they were crying and it made me sentimental and like almost crying and yeah, I'm just, I hope they're proud.
Anthony Godfrey:
I know they are, there's no question about that. Tell me what you have planned next after this, this is a great start to a lot of wonderful things in your life. What's next?
Natalia:
I plan on going on to Weber State University.
Anthony Godfrey:
I went to Weber State as well.
Natalia:
Really, did you enjoy it?
Anthony Godfrey:
Good choice, it was fantastic.
Natalia;
Yeah, okay.
Anthony Godfrey:
What do you want to study at Weber State?
Natalia:
I want to study interior design. I love like the AutoCAD drawing and like all that and like computer drawing. I know that's something similar that's going to go into that. I always enjoy like putting stuff together. Like even when I was little, I'll design little like rooms for my dolls and stuff. And yeah, I always make sure the colors look nice with each other or the fabrics or whatever and so I think going into that, it's just really fun.
Anthony Godfrey:
You've already had a lot of preparation for interior design starting with the doll houses.
Natalia:
Yes, ever since I was like eight.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's fantastic.
Natalia:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me what are some of the most memorable times during the Jordan Prep program?
Natalia:
I know this is kind of silly but the field trips, I feel like that's the way that everyone got closer because like obviously you're not doing work. I do remember my first year since like everyone was new, this program was new, no one knew what was going on. It was kind of like we were like testing out everything. I remember my our TAs were really fun and I loved my TA. Then throughout these past two years with like doing it at the college, I saw like it was just kind of fun going. We had a routine down where we go on the bus every day and like miss lunch. And I would complain like all the time like “Oh, I can't have lunch with my friends” but then I graduated from college and I'm really grateful for that.
Anthony Godfrey:
So there was sacrifice along the way but you're feeling all those rewards today.
Natalia:
Yes, I am. And yeah, like on the bus ride just me and my friends would just talk and the projects we ended up doing and yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
It sounds like the friendships and connections you made with other students were a very important part of the program.
Natalia:
Yeah, I'm a very sociable person once I get to know someone. And just like I got closer with my friends like throughout these two years because I was forced to. I couldn't change out of my class I was kind of like “Oh, I'll get to know them”. It was really good because I love them now. And I think, I'm not positive, but my friend might be going to Weber as well. So we might room together but we're not sure yet. We're not sure.
Anthony Godfrey:
Great! Fellow Wildcats possibly.
Natalia:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
Fingers crossed.
Natalia:
Hopefully.
Anthony Godfrey;
Obviously you’re going to take the things that you learned with you on the field trips, from your TAs, in your college classes, it sounds like you're taking friendships with you as well.
Natalia:
I want to keep in touch and see what everyone does like in like four years once we graduate from high school, or like six and ten. I just want to see where everyone's at. And then I don’t know, in the summer I am working with a couple of them as a TA here in this program.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, really you're coming back as a TA?
Natalia:
Yeah, as a TA instead of a student.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.
Natalia:
So it's kind of full-circle moment.
Anthony Godfrey:
Not only do you get to have a positive impact on your friends as you work together and watch each other through the years to come, but you get to have a be a positive influence on those
sixth graders starting out. And hopefully, get them to a day just like today was for you.
Natalia:
Yeah, and I hope I can explain it to them. Like maybe at the program so they can keep going and like show them like that is just worth it. Just keep pushing through and it's actually going to be really fun at the end of the day.
Anthony Godfrey:
I love that. Well, congratulations.
Natalia:
Thank you.
Anthony Godfrey:
This is well earned, well deserved, and I can't wait to hear what you do from here.
Natalia:
Thank you.
Anthony Godfrey:
We're talking now with Arlen. You just walked into the Jordan Prep celebration and I recognized you right off. You were on the podcast just a few weeks ago for Mr. Jorgensen's class talking about the Beatles and other music and here you are celebrating graduation from college. I'm so excited for you. So many people were impressed when they heard your interview on the earlier episode. How are you feeling today graduating with your one-year degree?
Arlen:
Well, to be completely honest I'm very ecstatic. At first, kind of like a lot of kids, I was like I don't want to go to graduation. This was like a big waste of time. Like, I'm just going to go there sit down and then get a little piece of paper. At first you hold that mentality, but as soon as you walk in and you see everybody around you, you're like “alright maybe I kind of judged it a little too hard”, because I walked in and instantly my face started smiling. I was like “You know what Sarah, this is kind of cool. It's kind of exciting.”
Anthony Godfrey:
It's very exciting. We're thrilled for all of you. It's really awesome. How did it feel? How did it feel when you walked across that stage?
Arlen:
Oh, walking across the stage it was nerve-wracking but it felt so great. It was like a little part of you is nervous but the majority of you is like this is so sick. Like, I'm just like it's not that I'm just like everyone else right now, but we're all feeling the same level of excitement and it was just so satisfying to be able to do that. Especially because recently since the high school graduation isn't too far off from our SLCC graduation my mom sounded more excited for my high school graduation. I was like “Mom, I'm graduating from college that's pretty sick”. She's been like “Yeah, good job. Yeah, good job.” But as soon as I walked across that stage I was like okay yeah it's not that she wasn't excited for me too, it's just that it's two things to be excited for.
Anthony Godfrey:
There's so much going on in your life it's hard to pick what to be most excited about. And speaking of that, you have other things coming up very shortly in June. Tell us about that.
Arlen:
Oh yeah, so no one else knows this. I lied, a lot of people know this already. But I'm going to be going to the Air Force and I want to make a long career path out of it. I want to go actually be a pilot for the Air Force if that's possible and I know it's a lot of work. But in June I'm going to be finally heading out to boot camp. I've been enlisted since February so that's what that's about three months so far.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.
Arlen:
I've been enlisted for about three months so far. So finally in boot camp all the training I've been doing so far is going to show. I'll go to boot camp until, let's see I'm going in– I'll finish in September, so I'll finish September 24th and I'll be going to tech school after that. I'll be back November 24th officially. So I'm really excited to be heading out to boot camp. My technical sergeant asks all the time he's like “Do you guys think you're ready? Do you guys think you're ready?” And it’s just like “Oh, I'm as ready as I’ll ever be.” like I'm ready to get out there.
Anthony Godfrey:
So you're ready. You're ready. What are some of the things that you've been doing to prepare?
Arlen:
I mean the big thing is studying. Like obviously in boot camp you're going to get broken down. They're going to be big on like you need to be able to do your push-ups, your shifts, your run time.
Anthony Godfrey;
Right.
Arlen:
You need to be able to, as they put it, you need to be in a high-stress situation with low risk and perform really, really well. So I've really been practicing with the studying aspect because that's kind of a little low key. A lot of people don't realize but boot camp has a lot of studying in it. You need to know your chain of command. You need to know the insignia for ranks. You need to know the ranks. You need to know your air force song and your air force creed. There's a lot of stuff you need to know about studying and you know you can obviously just focus on your physicality and be like “alright, well as long as it's easy physically everything else will be fine.” But like, I don't know if you all have ever experienced this, but when I was younger my mom would try to teach me math, or my older brothers, and I wouldn't understand it. So they'd get super frustrated at me and then that makes it hard on me to understand it.
Anthony Godfrey;
Right.
Arlen:
So I'm like alright, I'm just going to learn what I need to learn beforehand. I'll be solid physically and then once I get there all it is is just hear the screaming, hear what they say, not how they say it, and then internalize whatever I need to know.
Anthony Godfrey:
You are prepared. Hear what they say, not how they say it and you're focusing on the mental. I've always been impressed with you since we met on that interview and you've got a great future ahead of you. I have zero doubt of that. So I'm excited. You have another graduation coming up with boot camp. You'll graduate from boot camp before you know it.
Arlen:
I've said that like four times today. I told my older brother I'm like I mean this college graduation was pretty easy. I’ve got three more coming up. I graduate four times this year. Even though I just put it out there like as a little joke I'm actually excited about it. I'm like four graduations in one year. Who gets to say that.?
Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah well, I'm glad I was here to celebrate number one with you. This is tremendous. Like I said, you have great things ahead of you and I'm really proud of what you've done. You've worked hard.
Arlen:
Thank you. I really appreciate it.
Anthony Godfrey:
And you have a lot of challenges ahead of you that you're preparing for and that will take you to great heights. So congratulations.
Arlen:
Thank you, sir.
Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you will do today. We'll see you out there.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
20 min
May 23, 2024 Episode 246: She Has “A Way with Words,” Daybreak Student Competes in National Scripps Spelling Bee Championship in Washington, D.C.
You could say she has “a way with words.” We’re talking about Sophia Montana, a 6th grade student at Daybreak Elementary School.
On this episode of the Supercast, find out how Sophia managed to win the Utah Regional Spelling Bee in a tough five-hour competition propelling her to compete in the National Scripps Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. How is she preparing to go up against the best in the U.S.? Listen and find out.
Audio Transcription
[Music]
Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. You could say she has a way with words. We're talking about Sophia Montana, a sixth-grade student at Daybreak Elementary School.
On this episode of the Supercast, find out how Sophia managed to win the Utah Regional Spelling Bee in a tough five-hour competition, qualifying her to compete in the National Scripps Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. How is she preparing to go up against the best in the U.S.? Listen and find out.
[Music]
We're here at Daybreak Elementary talking with Sophia, the champion of the Northern Utah Regional Scripps Spelling Bee. First of all, congratulations.
Sophia:
Thank you.
Anthony Godfrey:
So you are a sixth grader. How many years have you been participating in the Spelling Bee?
Sophia:
Well, this is actually my first year ever participating.
Anthony Godfrey:
Your rookie year, you took state?
Sophia:
Yeah, I did.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's fantastic. Congratulations. What made you want to participate this year?
Sophia:
Well, we just had it as an assignment, and so I did the assignment, but like I've had an interest in words before. I got a dictionary for my birthday, and I like looking up words.
Anthony Godfrey:
You, okay, wait a minute. I have to pause here. You got a dictionary for your birthday, and you love looking up words. Tell me a little bit about that. When did you first discover that you really loved words? Is this a recent thing?
Sophia:
I guess it's a recent thing. I just wanted to know more words and, you know, just increase my vocabulary and use cool-sounding words instead of just boring basic words.
Anthony Godfrey:
I'm so impressed with that. Tell me what are some of your favorite words?
Sophia:
Um, Staphylococci is one of my favorite ones.
Anthony Godfrey:
Is that a bacteria of some kind?
Sophia:
Yes, it is.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, is it? Okay. Can you tell me anything about it?
Sophia:
Um...
Anthony Godfrey:
It's gross, probably.
Sophia:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. What are some other favorite words of yours?
Sophia:
Hmm. Um… lagniappe sounds like a cool word.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, yeah. Lagniappe. Okay.
Sophia:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
What else? And is that like a prize or a treasure, or what is it exactly? I’m trying to remember what that means.
Sophia:
Maybe some kind of treasure. I'm not sure. I'm not good at remembering all the definitions.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. It is a cool-sounding word, though.
Sophia:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
The definition doesn't really matter if it sounds cool.
Sophia:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
What are some of the other words that you like?
Sophia:
Hmm. Um… I like words like... I'm just thinking about other words. Xanthosis is like... means yellow, like... yellow something.
Anthony Godfrey:
Xanthosis?
Sophia:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey;
Does that start with an X?
Sophia:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Any other words that are particular favorites?
Sophia:
I like...psittacine. Because it comes from the Greek root "cita" meaning parrot. And like... so "psittacine" would be like "oh, related to parrots" and I've been interested in that word lately.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Cool. So do you just go through the dictionary from start to finish? Or do you just let it drop open to a particular page and discover words from there?
Sophia:
I just let it drop open to a page.
Anthony Godfrey:
Cool. Do you write in it and kind of circle some favorites?
Sophia:
No, I just remember them.
Anthony Godfrey:
You just remember them. That's even better.
Anthony Godfrey:
I have a few favorite words myself. I was an English teacher and I like tatterdemalion. And I also like dodecahedron, which is a 12-sided shape. You already knew that though. You're nodding your head. You knew what that was.
Sophia:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
And... yeah, there are some great words... and sclerotic. Sclerotic is like arteriosclerosis. But it means that it's-- an organization can be sclerotic. Meaning that things are kind of not moving very well. Anyway, so let's not talk about words. Let's talk about spelling. You started the spelling bee because it was an assignment.
Sophia:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
So let's talk with your teacher about that assignment. Introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about what you've been doing in class.
Tawna Pippin:
My name is Tawna Pippin and I teach sixth grade at Daybreak Elementary. I told my class that when I was in elementary school, I'd won the spelling... our school's spelling bee too. And I don't know, spelling's really important. I just always try to implement it into stuff that we're doing, so we do spelling in class. They have their spelling words every week. And Sophia is an amazing speller. She always has been. So I was just really excited to watch her through this whole process.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's fantastic. Now, so you were a speller. You were a competitor. Tell me about your experience when you were a student.
Tawna Pippin:
Oh, I grew up in a little town in Washington.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. All right.
Tawna Pippin:
That's as far as I went though. Just the school bee.
Anthony Godfrey:
The school bee or the town bee?
Anthony Godfrey:
Did everyone gather in the town square and watch you...
Tawna Pippin:
Maybe not that small of a town.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.
Tawna Pippin:
It was way back in the day.
Anthony Godfrey:
Do you remember some of your words?
Tawna Pippin:
Unfortunately, no. I know we wrote– I know I have it somewhere in a box, but I don't remember what they were.
Anthony Godfrey:
Do you remember any prizes or anything like that?
Tawna Pippin:
Well, I was just telling her that my English teacher when I was in eighth grade...It was my first year at that junior high. And she brought me like a little– She had run to her classroom. She was a foods teacher, and she taught one class of English. But she just came and surprised me with a little heart box with three pieces of chocolate in it. And I kept that little box for years. Mrs. Friswald was her name.
Anthony Godfrey:
Mrs. Friswald. Well, well done, Mrs. Friswald. Wherever you are. That's awesome. That's really cool. My brother was in the National Spelling Bee, actually, many years ago. The listeners will know just how long ago it was, one of the things he won was a Commodore 64 computer. With a cassette tape drive. So there were fewer words back then available to spell, even. But the one that he messed up on was fughetta. Fughetta has an H in it and he did not know it had an H.
[Music]
Stay with us. When we come back Sophia shares the winning word that made it possible for her to compete at a national level.
[Music]
Break:
Hello, I'm Sandy Riesgraf, Director of Communications for Jordan School District, and we want to invite you to connect with us. So many exciting things are happening in your child's school, your neighbor's school, in every school here, every day. Don't miss out on following the fun or simply staying informed when there's important information we need to share. Join us at jordandistrict.org, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @jordandistrict. We can't wait to connect.
[Music]
Anthony Godfrey:
So, how have your parents reacted to this?
Sophia:
Well, my parents thought I was some kind of a magician. They were like, "Wow, you just did that again. This is your first year. How did you win a regional spelling bee?" And now you're going to Washington, D.C.
Anthony Godfrey:
So let's go back to competition and what that was like for you. You obviously remember the winning word. Tell me about the word that you won with.
Sophia:
That was– the winning word, pneumatocyst.
Anthony Godfrey:
Pneumatocyst.
Sophia:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
My license plate has that word on it. I'm just kidding. What does the word actually mean? What can you tell me about the word?
Sophia:
Some kind of thing to do with seaweed. I remembered it like some kind of algae.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, okay.
Sophia:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
And is this a word that you had studied in advance or is this one that you just, that was just thrown out for you?
Sophia:
I studied it in advance. I was going through like flashcards and I found the word, luckily, because if I wasn't doing that, I wouldn't have known the word. Like it was just a few days before.
Anthony Godfrey:
Now sometimes they have a set list. Did they have a set list that they said they would be drawing from?
Sophia:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
But I understand that the competition went on so long that they had to maybe go– did they have to go off of that list and find some other words because you and your opponents were spelling things so well for so long?
Sophia:
Well, usually they do go off the list, but this year I don't think they said any, they didn't have a spell any words that were off the list.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, okay. So they were all on the list and tell me about your preparation. You said that you had flashcards and you were preparing that way.
Sophia:
Well, the flashcards were actually like, I guess you could call it digital. I used the Word Club app, which was like made for regional and school spelling bees.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh wow.
Sophia:
And you just had, like you have your phone and you have these little flashcards and you can just look at them as long as you want to and then you can get quizzed on them.
Anthony Godfrey:
I never thought about having an app that could help you with that. So you were able to– how many hours do you guess that you studied before the competition?
Sophia:
Well, some days I would study like an hour, two, three, five.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me what it sounded like since I wasn't there. Don't you have to say the word and then spell it and then say it again? Is that still the rule?
Sophia:
Yeah, I believe so.
Anthony Godfrey:
Will you do that with your winning word for me right now? Say it, spell it and say it again.
Sophia:
Okay. Pneumatocyst. P-N-E-U-M-A-T-O-C-Y-S-T. Pneumatocyst.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. Very nice. Very poised. I could hear every letter distinctly. You practice that too, I'll bet. You don't want to mumble through it and have someone mishear you. So did you ask for a sentence or a definition very frequently? Did you have some strategy that way?
Sophia:
Well, some words I had to ask about because it's really strange when you're on stage, when the people are talking into the microphone, it sounds like almost two people talking at the same time. So like I got a word, curio, and I thought there was a "cheerio" and so I had to ask for the definition so I knew which word it was.
Anthony Godfrey:
And that was quickly cleared up.
Sophia:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
And you got curio right, obviously. Did you get some words wrong but then someone else got a word wrong and then you were able to continue on or were you able to spell every word?
Sophia:
I was able to spell every word but we did have a written round in the beginning and I spelled one of the words wrong. Almost everyone spelled the word before that one, ascites, wrong.
Anthony Godfrey:
But you got ascites right?
Sophia:
Yeah, so I stayed in the game.
Anthony Godfrey:
You are incredibly impressive. I can't believe all the words that you know how to spell. And I love that you're so passionate about learning more words. So tell me what you're doing to prepare now for the national level.
Sophia:
Well, I just, I look around for any words that I can find. I have this book that has like stuff about etymology and like spelling rules like where to put a double consonant. And I sometimes study that. Then when I won the regional spelling bee, they gave me like this little gift card that was for this, I think, company called Hexco. And I got like 800 words that were really hard that were likely to come up on the national spelling bee to study. And I'm also doing that and it's online.
Anthony Godfrey:
Great. So do you have all 800 words down cold already?
Sophia:
No, I only have a few words but I will keep studying and I will eventually study all the words.
Anthony Godfrey:
When does the competition happen and where?
Sophia:
It happens in Washington, D.C. I think around the Gaylord National Resort. I think that's what it's called. And it is going to happen during the last week of May. Like they do it on two different days like preliminaries, finals, and so that's why we're going to be there for a week. And also we do a lot of fun stuff there. It's not only the spelling bee.
Anthony Godfrey:
So you can tour around and see some of the monuments and sites.
Sophia:
Yeah, that will be really fun.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's really cool. I love Washington, D.C. Have you been before?
Sophia:
No, I haven't.
Anthony Godfrey:
So no matter how well you do in the competition, this is going to be really exciting.
Sophia:
It is. It will be. And my cousin lives in Washington, D.C. so I'll get to see her too. I might stay like a few more days just to see her.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, that's awesome. So you've got a cousin there. This is going to be fantastic regardless of the outcome.
Sophia:
I know.
Anthony Godfrey:
But I like your chances of doing very well at the national level. You've got the eye of the tiger. I can tell that you have that competitive spirit. So I've heard that it's not only words in the English language that you'll have to spell. Is that accurate?
Sophia:
Yes, there are many different words. There are German words, Spanish and Greek, and Latin words.
Anthony Godfrey:
That is pretty incredible that they're going to make you spell words from other languages. Very impressive. So I think it's really cool also that you're not just studying a list of words, but you're studying rules about how spelling works. Do you also study kind of roots to words? Does that help?
Sophia:
Yes, it definitely does. Like I was saying, the Greek "cyta" meaning parrot and just a basic one like pre-meaning before, post, after, and just tons of others.
Anthony Godfrey:
So it kind of helps you break words down into different elements that maybe help you spell things a little more easily.
Sophia:
Yes, it does.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's impressive. That's going to serve you well for a long time and that's something that you don't always think about first when you're thinking about the spelling bee is how much it helps your vocabulary and how much you understand words as a result of being a part of that.
Sophia:
Yeah, and they said I was going to have to listen to how people say words and then I'm going to have to correct how they pronounce the words for the rest of my life, because now I know how to pronounce almost every word.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh yeah, that's really cool. So spell it out for me. What does it feel like to be up on stage?
Sophia:
It feels strange. I mean, the lights are really bright and when I was sitting, I just wanted to close my eyes and when I got on stage the first time, I thought I was going to faint. Like I actually felt like I was just going to collapse, but well, I didn't. I just have to keep calm. My eyes just facing forward and just spell whatever word they give me.
Anthony Godfrey:
Just kind of stay focused. But the fact that you've been on stage in regions, that will really help you when you're at nationals.
Sophia:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
This is a huge trophy that we have here in the office. Tell me where this is going to go. It's actually a piece of furniture. It's so large.
Sophia:
Well, it's going to go in our, I guess it's called a display case and everyone's going to see this and it's going to be there forever.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, fantastic. Well, I look forward to seeing it many years into the future. Well, I'm really proud of what you're doing. I love that you're passionate about words the way that you are. And I know you're going to have a great time regardless of the outcome and that you're going to work really hard to be at your best. So thanks for representing Daybreak, and Jordan District, and the state of Utah. So wow, that's awesome.
Sophia:
Thank you.
Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you will do today. We'll see you out there.
[Music]
18 min
May 16, 2024 Episode 245: Students Serious About CSI at JATC South
They are careful not to contaminate evidence or miss a clue to solve a complicated, but in this case, fictional crime. We are talking about students in the Criminal Justice Program at JATC South in Riverton.
On this episode of the Supercast, hear from some Criminal Justice students who are excelling as crime scene investigators, using their forensics skills to compete at the national level and hopefully one day land a job in law enforcement.
Audio Transcription
[Music]
Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They are careful not to contaminate evidence or miss a clue to solve a complicated, and in this case, fictional crime. We're talking about students in the Criminal Justice Program at JATC South in Riverton.
On this episode of the Supercast, hear from some criminal justice students who are excelling as crime scene investigators, using their forensic skills to compete at the national level and hopefully, one day land a job in law enforcement.
We're here at JATC South to learn more about the Criminal Justice Program, and we're talking with instructor Brandon Palmer. Brandon, tell us a little bit about this program and the competition we're here to learn more about.
Brandon Palmer:
Sure. The Criminal Justice Program here at the JATC is a concurrent enrollment program, which consists of four courses from the Salt Lake Community College. I combine these four courses so it seems like just one big program, but by the time they're done at the end of the year, they'll have 12 college credits along with their high school credit.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. That's a lot of credit.
Brandon Palmer:
It is. That's the huge benefit of this class. As we go through the class, I was in law enforcement for quite a while, and I kind of give them the truth about the careers that I was involved in throughout my career as a law enforcement officer. A lot of them come in thinking they want to be in law enforcement, forensics, or whatever. I direct them to get a good, educated idea of what their career is. I do have a lot at the end of the year telling me there's no way I'm going to do that. But I figure that's a win. That's a win.
Anthony Godfrey:
Those who've listened to the podcast before know that I've said it's as important to learn that this is not something you want to do as it is to find out that, hey, this is a career I'd like to pursue. Because this is a great time to explore that. You get some college credit in the process, and then you're not on a path that you find out most of the way through your degree that this might not be for me. But I'm sure you also find some students who really decide, hey, I love this even more than I thought I would.
Brandon Palmer:
They then have a better-educated background to make that decision.
Anthony Godfrey:
Sure. They can kind of chart their path from here to get to their career goal. Tell me about the competition.
Brandon Palmer:
The competition is through SkillsUSA. It's a national CTSO. These ladies just did the state competition. The three here on this side did the Criminal Investigation competition, and they won gold. And then this one here did the Criminal Justice competition, and she also won gold.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. That's awesome.
Brandon Palmer:
It is. It's great. They worked hard, and then they showed up, and they did what they needed to do. And now they're on their way to Georgia.
Anthony Godfrey:
So tell me about the two competitions and what's involved.
Brandon Palmer:
Okay, so the criminal investigation competition, they'll be able to get into more detail than I will. But there's several phases. There is a crime scene where they have to walk in together as a team, work together as a team to get a good idea of kind of what happened. Not so much the focus of who done it, but what exactly happened. Is there a crime related? So they have to look at the evidence that's available there to determine that. And then they split them up, and they each do a certain specialty. So for example, blood spatter analysis, fingerprint analysis, and they'll be able to tell you a lot better than I would on the other side.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. And for the other competition?
Brandon Palmer:
The criminal justice competition, there is not a crime scene, but there is a scenario that they have to walk through from start to beginning, so like a domestic. So they walk into a domestic, may have to handle that domestic, determine if there's a crime, make an arrest, and any digging that they may have to do.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's serious stuff.
Brandon Palmer:
It is.
Anthony Godfrey:
So let's talk to the team a little bit. Introduce yourselves and tell me a little bit about what you enjoy from this class.
Quinnley Starr:
I'm Quinnley Starr, and I love the forensic side, but through this competition I've been able to learn. I think I'm not as interested as being hands on in the crime, so that's been very helpful. But I really enjoyed this competition because I was able to figure out exactly what I like about crime scenes, and we were able to all work together, and I learned the stress of a crime scene. Like, these CSI have so much stress on them because if they mess anything up it greatly impacts investigation, and so they have to do everything as perfect as they can.
Anthony Godfrey:
And you're all from Bingham, I understand.
Quinnley Starr:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. So you don't like the hands on as much, but what aspects of it do you enjoy?
Quinnley Starr:
So I enjoy trying to figure out what happens. I don't want to spend all my day just packaging evidence, but I enjoy being like, okay, so we know all of this, so what happened? So I think it'd be more interesting to criminal profile who would be doing this. How did it happen?
Anthony Godfrey;
Great.
Alison Andereson:
I'm Alison Anderson, and I really love the hands-on experience that this class gives us. Every week we have a training day where we get to experience new jobs that we could go into and just how they would do it. So one time, every few weeks we do a self-defense class, and our teacher just teaches self-defense, and we get to go over all that. And it's just such a cool experience that we get to learn how everyone, different jobs, would go about doing their jobs. And it's just really cool to have our hands-on experience.
Anthony Godfrey:
So what did you enjoy about the competition?
Alison Anderson:
I love the hands-on experience because it's just so cool to be able to walk into a crime scene and have it be so live like. It's cool to see how it would actually be set up and be able to go through it and be like, this is how it would actually happen were I to become a CSI and see what I would actually have to do in a real-life situation.
Anthony Godfrey:
So you don't mind being boots on the ground, packaging things up, being the first to come in and tell the other police to step aside. You're here from CSI.
Alison Anderson:
Exactly.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, and tell me about your experience.
Lucy Herold:
My name is Lucy Herold, and I really enjoy just learning about what happened. I love doing puzzles and putting things together. Packaging evidence was really fun. Learning how to do that was a blast. This cause really helped us prepare for that, especially with our training days, because we learned a lot about every single part of criminal justice, not just CSI or criminal justice. We learned about law and stuff, which is really helpful. So we know if there was an actual crime committed and things like that. So it was just a blast in general for me.
Anthony Godfrey:
So do you sometimes, I guess I hadn't thought of this, but until you mentioned it, the first thing you're doing is walking in to determine whether it's a crime in the first place. Because if you jump to conclusions, then you can end up down the wrong path. Now all I know about gathering evidence comes from pop culture. So do you ever take a pen out of your pocket and pick up the evidence that way?
Lucy Herold:
No.
Anthony Godfrey:
No, you're all laughing. Okay. All right. Well, I guess "Law and Order" and all the movies I've watched have not prepared me to be successful in a SkillsUSA competition. Tell me, what was the competition like? Tell me some of what was involved in that and some of the things you had to do well in order to earn the gold medal and go on to nationals.
Quinnley Starr:
Okay. So first of all, the first thing we had to do was go through the crime scene. And so we each have a role to play. Like I measure and sketch the crime scene. She photographs it and Lucy looks for all the evidence and marks it. And so we all have our role. So we go through it and we just photograph it, sketch it, find all the evidence and just record everything. And then we have to write a report on it. And then we each have a skill demonstration we have to do. I did presumptive blood testing. So they gave me a tray with a red substance on it and I had to determine if it was blood or not.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Presumptive blood testing. That's a phrase I've never said before. What were some of your roles?
Alison Anderson:
So I photographed the scene. So I just made sure that I got and found every piece of evidence that there was so then we could make sure that we packaged everything and make sure that we didn't miss anything that could be vital to the investigation. It's a super important role because if we have to like recreate the crime scene, then we have to make sure that we have photographs of every single evidence. Then as we're looking at it again, we don't miss anything that could be vital. My individual skill was fingerprinting. So they gave me three mugs and I had to dust the mugs to find fingerprints. And this is also a super important skill because no one has the same fingerprint. So if you get a really good fingerprint from an object like my mug, then you could determine whose fingerprint that was and determine that they were there at the scene. And it's just super important to make sure that you get the right person. And so fingerprints, it's a really good way to find them.
Anthony Godfrey:
So you're preserving the scene through photographs.
Alison Anderson:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
Now tell me about your role.
Lucy Herold:
So I take notes and I help Allison and Quinnley either measure the crime scene or help her take pictures. And then I also help measure stuff too. And then my personal skill was trace evidence, which were you have to look at it like a piece of clothing item. And you have to see if there's any fibers, hair or any like things on it. Like there are certain lights you can use. You have to package the fibers or hairs and like a paper bindle and then label it correctly. You have to package the evidence correctly too.
Anthony Godfrey:
So you have to pull everything together so that you can then take the time to think it through and puzzle it out and try to get a profile and think it through. Now you were the solo gold medalist. Introduce yourself and tell me about your competition.
Meridian Darger:
My name is Meridian Darger. I just turned 18 a few days ago. I've known that I wanted to go in criminal justice in some shape or form ever since I was really young. And then I found out about this program at my old high school. Well, I go to Riverton, but that's just my home school. All of my classes are through Kings Peak online high school. So I found out about it in my early like sophomore year of high school. I found out about this program and I knew I just needed to go into it because I already know like what my calling is, but I just needed to make sure I can handle it because it's stressful. And my ultimate goal is to become a homicide detective. But you have to become a police officer for so many years to do that. So I was just making sure that I can do that.
Anthony Godfrey:
And what do you think after taking the class and being in the competition?
Meridian Darger:
Yes, yes. I love it. It's just, I just know like that's my calling out there. And sometimes I think about like, oh maybe I should do something else. This is going to be stressful. But then I think like there's probably a victim or a victim family out there that's going to need my help to bring them closure. Just help people.
Anthony Godfrey:
I love that you have felt that before being in the class and that this has confirmed it.
Meridian Darger:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the competition that you were involved in.
Meridian Darger:
So my competition, I had several scenarios that I was just working on on my own. So we would take turns because there was 12 other people competing. We would just take turns going into different rooms and we couldn't talk about it after. So I did like a witness interview report to an armed robbery. I did take fingerprints off a bottle as well. I did a domestic dispute call that I went and responded to and ended in an arrest. And then I also did a, it was a traffic stop, but it turned out to be that the person that was driving had a warrant out for their arrest. So I had to take care of that during the crime scene. So it was a bit higher stakes, but it was like really stressful for me, but it was really fun.
Anthony Godfrey:
Now, how do you prepare for the next level of competition? You've qualified for national competition. Tell me when that is and what you're doing to get ready for that.
Meridian Darger:
Okay. So I took first place in regionals and state. So I think both of them will be kind of similar to the nationals one. I'm just preparing with them. We're going to be working together like once a week leading up and it's going to be June 24th and it's going to be in Atlanta, Georgia. So we're traveling together because we are in school, but they're still going to be competing in their Crime Scene Investigation while I compete in my Criminal Justice Competition.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's really exciting. So you knew this is what you wanted to do. The class has confirmed it and your path is that you want to be a detective.
Meridian Darger:
Yeah, that's my ultimate goal, but I still want to experience like being a police officer, doing smaller state crimes, just trying out different things because I just love what this does for people, what this does for victims, what that does for families, how it protects people. So I just want to experience it for areas, but yeah, my ultimate goal is homicide detective.
Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back, we'll analyze a crime scene with the students of the criminal justice program at JATC South.
Break:
Does your student want to become a veterinarian, commercial pilot, programmer? Maybe they want to make a difference as a dental assistant. These are just some of the programs offered as part of Career and Technical Education, CTE in Jordan School District. CTE provides the technical skills needed to prepare students for future employment or a successful transition to post-secondary education. Career and Technical Education provides work-based learning opportunities. We partner with industry experts to offer apprenticeships and internships with students working in the real world at real jobs while going to school. The CTE experience starts in our elementary schools with the Kids' Marketplace and grows through middle and high school. To explore all CTE has to offer in Jordan School District visit cte.jordandistrict.org today and let's get your child started on the pathway to a profession.
Quinnley Starr:
With going to nationals, it's pretty expensive so we're trying to raise money for it so we have a GoFundMe. If anyone is willing to donate or can, it would help tremendously.
Alison Anderson:
On the GoFundMe, it's under Criminal Justice Nationals Competition. If you go to GoFundMe and you search that up and donate even like $5, it'll be so helpful.
Anthony Godfrey:
Now I understand that I said blood splatter and that is not the correct term. Tell me.
Quinnley Starr:
It's blood spatter.
Anthony Godfrey:
Spatter.
Anthony Godfrey:
I think it's because when I like to buy vinyl, it's a splatter pattern when it's like kind of the, okay nevermind. So paint splatters, blood spatters.
Quinnley Starr:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.
Alison Anderson:
Any CSI will correct you if you say splatter.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.
Lucy Herold:
When we were at state, we got shirts that said it's not splatter, it's splatter.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Alright.
Brandon Palmer:
Splatter is the sound the spatter makes.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. So it's splattered and left a spatter. Alright. I've learned a lot today. Alright, Meridian, we're going to walk into this scene. You haven't seen it yet?
Meridian Darger:
No.
Anthony Godfrey:
Talk me through your thought process and what you see and how you determine whether CSI needs to come in.
Meridian Darger:
Okay. Yeah. Before entering like any building, if I was just getting called here, dispatched here, I would get information from dispatch about the type of scenario that's happening. So if it's something that's more high stakes like a domestic call or violent or potential with a weapon, I would immediately call for a backup before I even entered the facility.
Anthony Godfrey:
Can I be your backup?
Meridian Darger:
Yes, you can be my backup.
Anthony Godfrey:
Can I point around the room and then yell clear?
Meridian Darger:
That's only in your show. It's your pop culture.
Anthony Godfrey:
I still want to do it.
Meridian Darger:
Okay. If you're clearing a building and there's a person with a gun, you'll look around. We've done that in the past before.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. I'll just be your backup. Here we go. Open the door. Let's see what we've got.
Meridian Darger:
So I would enter the building if they like let me in. So immediately there is a, immediately there is a body. But if I'm coming into a scenario, the first thing I do is to secure it because I know there's someone there. They could be bleeding out. They could be hurt. But I'm no good to them, if somebody shoots me from behind the bush or something like that. So I have to go through and I immediately clear the scene before. And then I would, I would probably also call for medical to come while I'm searching and then let them know that they can't enter until I let them know it's clear. So medical would come, they would, and I could also clear him to see if he is deceased and let's say he is deceased.
Anthony Godfrey:
And describe what you see here. He looks pretty deceased.
Meridian Darger:
So in the middle of the floor, he's laying down with his knees kind of buckled up. He's got immediate blood stain, a little blood pool by his head. There's a pot that has been knocked over and he is wearing gloves, like basic gardening stuff and there's also dirt near his face. So that's what I see.
Anthony Godfrey:
So what do we do next?
Meridian Darger:
So after that, I would just, if there's nobody here, I would just, I would be calling for–
Anthony Godfrey:
Clear, clear. There's nobody here.
Meridian Darger:
It's been clear. I would be calling for the CSI to come and then I would also have kept in mind a path I would have taken through this whole entire building and let them know how they're supposed to walk in. Like stay against back walls, stay against corners so you don't step on any evidence.
Anthony Godfrey:
And now CSI is on the scene.
Meridian Darger:
And now CSI, come on.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay CSI, you're here. Tell us about what you do from the start of this crime scene.
Quinnley Starr:
Okay, so the first thing we do is put on personal protective equipment. So we got shoe covers, gloves, goggles, face masks and masks. And then we each get our individual equipment out. For example, I get out my sketching equipment.
Alison Anderson:
I get out the camera so I can take photos of everything.
Lucy Herold:
And then I get out evidence markers and a notepad.
Anthony Godfrey:
Come around, take a look and tell me what you think happened.
Lucy Herold:
So we did find some red substance on the bottom of his shoe. We know that whoever's red substance that is was walking away.
Alison Anderson:
We can determine that by looking at the tails. So it goes because the tails are facing away from the body, we can determine that whoever or like wherever the blood was coming from, they were walking away from the body.
Lucy Herold:
Because the tails were pointing the direction they were leaving to.
Anthony Godfrey:
I did not notice the tails until you pointed them out. All right.
Alison Anderson:
We also noticed that on this corner, there is a red substance and it’s dripping down it.
Anthony Godfrey:
So that's the corner of a cart.
Alison Anderson:
So it looks like the head could have hit it.
Anthony Godfrey:
He bled out. That's the term, right? Bled out?
Brandon Palmer:
Possibly. There'd have to be a lot more blood than that, obviously.
Anthony Godfrey:
I just wanted to say the phrase bled out. You know? I just wanted to say that.
Brandon Palmer:
Also, it could have been a broken neck. So we determined that this may be connected to this, right? And then how did it get caused? But then you also see some more blood and that tells you what?
Alison Anderson:
That someone was walking away from the body.
Brandon Palmer:
You would obviously test the blood, but by looking at it, it would be hard for him to make that blood trail, right? So where did this blood come from?
Lucy Herold:
Possibly from someone else who might have been at the scene.
Brandon Palmer:
Then how was it caused?
Alison Anderson:
It was dripping from something and then the movement shows like walking.
Brandon Palmer:
Okay. That's great. So now you know it's walking out, right? But where did the blood come from? And this is where it takes discipline. So you're focused in this little area and then you branch out a little bit. Is there anything more? Right? So where is the first drop of blood possibly?
Lucy Herold:
The first drop of blood is right next to the pot.
Brandon Palmer:
Okay. So is there anything in the vicinity that could have caused it?
Lucy Herold:
Maybe if they picked up the pot and they cut themselves from it, it's a possibility.
Quinnley Starr:
Oh yeah. We can see a red substance is dripping down the bottom of the plastic pot.
Lucy Herold:
Yeah. So someone must have cut themselves on it. It's kind of hard for the deceased to make that blood trail walking away from it. So there is indication that there was a second person at the crime scene when this individual could have passed.
Brandon Palmer:
So we're going to try to find this person.
Anthony Godfrey:
You know what? We're going to leave the crime as a cliffhanger for those listening. But it is interesting how many assumptions I made and how many drops of blood I stepped in before I really started to pay attention to what could have happened and the evidence around. So bravo. Congratulations on the keyed skills you've developed in analyzing a potential crime scene. This is awesome.
Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you will do today. We'll see you out there.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
25 min
May 09, 2024 Episode 244: Herriman High Student Scientist Making Electricity Out of Mud to Power iPhone
She is an impressive young student scientist who has discovered an unlikely and very unusual source of electricity, using mud to power her iPhone and more.
On this episode of the Supercast, meet Herriman High School’s Fianna Smith whose discovery earned her a ticket to compete in a very prestigious and tough International STEM Fair. Fianna will pitch her science project to judges, going up against students from all over the world.
Audio Transcription
[Music]
Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. She is an impressive young student scientist who has discovered an unlikely and very unusual source of electricity using mud to power her iPhone and more.
On this episode of the Supercast, meet Herriman High School's Fianna Smith, whose discovery earned her a ticket to compete in a very prestigious and tough International STEM fair. Fianna will pitch her science project to judges, going up against students from all over the world.
[Music]
We're talking with Fianna Smith at Herriman High School this morning about her science fair project. Thanks very much for taking the time to talk with me.
Fianna Smith:
Yeah, of course.
Anthony Godfrey:
You have competed at various levels and are now headed to the International Science and Engineering Fair. Is that correct?
Fianna Smith:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the competition this year to this point.
Fianna Smith:
I have competed in– so there's two levels that I have to go through before I get to the International Science and Engineering Fair. And so that's Regionals and CUSF. CUSF is the Central Utah STEM Fair.
Anthony Godfrey;
And BYU is a sponsor of this and is connected to this, is that right?
Fianna Smith:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, so tell me about the competition there. What were your awards there? I know that there were multiple.
Fianna Smith:
Yeah. I got like six special awards. One of them was the Stockholm Junior Water Prize, Regional Water Prize Award. And that is an entry, like that allows me to enter another competition that could potentially end up giving me a free trip to the Stockholm Water Plant in Sweden, along with a cash prize.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's fantastic. What were some of the other prizes that you won as well?
Fianna Smith:
I also got first place.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.
Fianna Smith:
And Grand Champion. Grand Champion is the award that allows me to go to ISEF. It's my ticket.
Anthony Godfrey:
It's your ticket to the International Fair. Now Grand Champion is a pretty big title for a teenager. I've never been a Grand Champion. I don't expect to be. But first place Grand Champion and the Water Prize and several others. How does that feel?
Fianna Smith:
It feels great. I feel very proud of myself for putting in all this work to get here.
Anthony Godfrey:
And you've been working on this for a long time. Tell me how long you've been working on this project. From the very start, from the very inception.
Fianna Smith:
I am a junior now and I have been working on this project since seventh grade.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.
Fianna Smith:
And I've won Grand Champion with this project every year. Except for as soon as I started ninth grade, that Grand Champion award was able to take me to the International Science and Engineering Fair.
Anthony Godfrey:
So not only are you a Grand Champion, you're just a Grand Champion on an annual basis basically at this point.
Fianna Smith:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's fantastic. I know it takes a lot of work to get there. Now you're going to the International Science and Engineering Fair. You've been there before.
Fianna Smith:
Yeah, I have.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about that experience in the past.
Fianna Smith:
It is honestly what I look forward to every year. It's just a week where I get to have fun with people that I don't know. So I get to make a lot of new friends and I get to present my project to people who haven't heard about it yet.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's great. Tell me, because you've been there before now, you have a little bit of a home-court advantage you're going to LA, I understand. Next week.
Fianna Smith:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
And tell me what that week looks like. Because I understand that it's a whole week of activities that you have planned.
Fianna Smith:
Yeah. So everything is pretty much planned out for me beforehand, except for we get a couple hours of our own time every day to just do whatever we want to.
Anthony Godfrey:
So you can go to Disneyland, ride one ride, and then come back.
Fianna Smith:
Yeah, pretty much.
Anthony Godfrey:
Plenty of time.
Fianna Smith:
I think we get one free day. They're renting out Disneyland for the evening on that night.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, that's wonderful.
Fianna Smith:
So we all get to go there and there's no one else, so the rides will be super short and it'll be awesome.
Anthony Godfrey:
That sounds fantastic. Do you expect to see some people that you've met before? Are there other repeat grand champions?
Fianna Smith:
Yeah, I actually have a friend that I still keep in contact with. He's from Pennsylvania and I'm really excited because I know he's going again this year, so I will be able to see him.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's awesome. Sounds great. It's going to be a wonderful time and I'm really excited to hear how things go for you. Now, there's a ton of prep and there's a ton of information for us to talk about, but before we get into the project itself, you have two displays here and I understand that creating the display and transporting the display is a really big part of being successful.
Fianna Smith:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the process that you went through because I understand that at different levels, different types of information are required because the judges maybe understand the science better at a higher level once you've advanced in the competition.
Fianna Smith:
Yeah, definitely. So, how it usually goes is I'll create a board that has a lot more words than what I would take to the International Science and Engineering Fair, so it's a lot bigger and a lot wordier. So if somebody were just to walk up every day, it would make sense to them even if they had no information on the topic beforehand.
Anthony Godfrey:
So that's the one for me?
Fianna Smith:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's the one at my level, okay? And then the next one, tell me about the next one.
Fianna Smith:
So when I go to ISEF, there are very strict requirements for my board and what has to be on it and what can't be on it. For example, my abstract, I can take that, typically they want that on the board for the state level, but once I get to ISEF, they actually make a special banner that pins on to my personal table that I have for my project board that has my abstract on it and a little like special metal seal too.
Anthony Godfrey:
At the competition itself, are you there with the project as we would picture on any other science fair and you're explaining it to the judges or are you even there, are they just walking by and looking at it?
Fianna Smith:
Typically we'll be there all day. We'll be sitting at our project board all day just waiting for a judge to come by. Typically we have scheduled times for specific judges, so like the regulated judges, and then there will be special award judges that will just come randomly.
Anthony Godfrey:
I see. So there are all kinds of different awards you could win once again.
Fianna Smith:
Yeah, and sometimes they talk to me, sometimes they don't talk to me, sometimes they just
look at my board.
Anthony Godfrey:
Do you have a separate room just for the awards? Just so that when you get home, they're not all over the place in the way so that you can just visit the award room or are they just spread throughout the house?
Fianna Smith:
They're pretty much spread throughout the house.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, all right. Yeah, they probably couldn't fit in one room anyway.
Fianna Smith:
When I go to ISEF, I get a special bag that says ISEF on it.
Anthony Godfrey:
To keep the awards?
Fianna Smith:
Yeah, it's a really nice bag too. So I just keep all of my stuff in there. I'll keep my journal from that year in there along with little souvenirs that I collected at ISEF from going to all the places. Like my pins, I'll put them in there until I hang them up. I have a pinboard that has all my different years on it.
Anthony Godfrey:
That sounds awesome.
Anthony Godfrey:
When I go to a conference, I get a tote bag and I put squeeze balls that I got from vendors. So kind of the same experience.
Stay with us when we come back. Fianna explains how she powers her iPhone making electricity out of power.
Break:
Are you looking for a job right now? Looking to work in a fun and supportive environment with great pay and a rewarding career? Jordan School District is hiring. We're currently filling full and part-time positions. You can work and make a difference in young lives and education as a classroom assistant or a substitute teacher. Apply to work in one of our school cafeterias where our lunch staff serves up big smiles with great food every day. We're also looking to hire custodians and bus drivers. In Jordan School District we like to say people come for the job and enjoy the adventure. Apply today at employment.jordandistrict.org
Anthony Godfrey:
Let's talk about the project itself and talk me through the science behind it. You have a little box of dirt here with a lid and a light and some wire sticking out of it. Explain to me what's going on here.
Fianna Smith:
Yeah, so the box is actually filled with mud.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh yes, when I lift it, it has a mud weight, not a dirt weight. So tell me about what this is.
Fianna Smith:
It's called a microbial fuel cell and what's basically going on within this little clear container is I have two metal wool pads sitting in the mud at a certain distance apart, which I've tested before to see which is best.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, so they're at optimal distance from one another.
Fianna Smith:
Yeah, yeah. How this works is the bacteria in the mud, when it consumes nutrients, it releases electrons and the graphite wool, which is the metal wool, picks up the electrodes and carries them into a capacitor. When that capacitor fills, it releases into the light bulb, making it flash and this is how I measure how much power is being produced.
I have a, I convert the flash rate into the amount of bacteria helping to produce this and the amount of power in microwatts. I can also use the control board that is also hooked up to the fuel cell to measure the power and the voltage, which I can use to math into the current.
Anthony Godfrey:
How did you discover that the bacteria in mud can produce electricity by consuming the nutrients and letting off the electrons?
Fianna Smith:
I was actually scrolling on Science Buddies just looking for a project to do in seventh grade.
Anthony Godfrey:
What is Science Buddies?
Fianna Smith:
Science Buddies is the most basic website you can go to to get science fair project ideas.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, all right. And so as you're scrolling through there.
Fianna Smith:
As I was scrolling through there, I saw like a kit for microbial fuel cells in it. The title was basically like produce electricity from mud. And that's my whole selling point now because of that.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, and this was like a third of your life ago. So tell me about your journey with the mud. So how has the project evolved over the last few years?
Fianna Smith:
My first project was very simple. I was just testing which Utah lake mud would be the best for the fuel cells, which would produce the most.
Anthony Godfrey:
So it's lake mud that has the bacteria in particular that can produce the electricity.
Fianna Smith:
It depends. All mud has the bacteria. There's just two different kinds. Geobacter is the kind that exists or lives close to water sources while Shewanella lives anywhere.
Anthony Godfrey:
Shewanella does not produce electricity as efficiently as the bacteria in lake mud.
Fianna Smith:
I have not tested that.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Still frontiers to be explored.
Fianna Smith:
Yeah. Personally, I favor Geobacter because it's what I've been using.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. So have you found a difference among lake muds that some are more effective at producing electricity?
Fianna Smith:
Yes, actually. So the Great Salt Lake is the location where I collect my mud. I tested like five different lakes, but the other most significant one was the Utah Lake. The fuel cells are run based off bacteria. I for sure thought it was going to be the Utah Lake that would produce the most because it has a lot of bacteria. But it actually ended up being the Great Salt Lake.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. The Great Salt Lake has produced more electricity than Utah Lake.
Fianna Smith:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
And how long has this LED been flashing with this? I mean, this is a several inch cube. It's not very large. It's like an oversized Rubik's Cube. How long has the LED been lighting?
Fianna Smith:
Almost two years. I think we're over a year and a half.
Anthony Godfrey:
Just with this batch of mud.
Fianna Smith:
Yep.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. That’s incredible.
Fianna Smith:
I haven't done anything to it. I actually just left it there.
Anthony Godfrey:
So what are some of the uses? I see that on the display board you have a picture of, what is it, 12 or 15 of these boxes in various sizes. What uses do you see for electrifying mud?
Fianna Smith:
For example, one that I've already tested this year, it was part of my project for this year, is I tied 15 of my microbial fuel cells into series and parallel to get 5 volts at 1 amp. And I used that to charge my cell phone.
Anthony Godfrey:
You've charged your cell phone with mud.
Fianna Smith:
Yep.
Anthony Godfrey:
That would have come in handy for me a few times. That's fantastic. So you set up, tell me exactly what that looked like. Did you set up a number of these boxes together? What did that ultimately look like? I'm not sure that there's an adapter that just dips right into the mud. So how did that work?
Fianna Smith:
I had to individually measure each microbial fuel cell with a voltmeter to get the amount of power and the current that was in each fuel cell. So after I did that, I was able to figure out which ones I needed to put in series and which ones I needed to put in parallel. Then I had three rows of five, ultimately added up to 5 volts and averaged to 0.3 amps. And then I had two other rows of five that would bring the power to 5 volts and 1 amp.
Anthony Godfrey:
So you had to make sure that you had enough power?
Fianna Smith:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey;
And then how did you harness all that power and get it to the cell phone?
Fianna Smith:
I cut a charger so that I could directly wire it to the wires that were coming off of the fuel cell.
Anthony Godfrey:
I see.
Fianna Smith:
And then so I just– instead of having the part that plugs directly into the wall, I cut that off and wired it into the fuel cell.
Anthony Godfrey:
Talk me through the international board, just each of the categories and a little bit about each one.
Fianna Smith:
Okay. First off, on all of my project boards, no matter which stage, I always have my purpose or my objectives of the project. Basically my goals. This year my goals were to put my microbial fuel cells to work, like to actually charge something like my cell phone, which is why I did so much work in doing that. That was one-half of my project.
The other part of my project was testing if scaling the fuel cells both by width and by height would affect the amount of power being produced and how it would affect that power if it was linear or not linear.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's your objective.
Fianna Smith:
On every board, I have my hypothesis right after my objectives too. That does not change. My hypothesis was that if the mud is measured daily, then the microbiome fuel cells will show a correlation with the increasing delta between the anode and cathode and the increasing overall size. So I thought that it would scale linearly depending on– So the size and the power would scale linearly together.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. So summarize the conclusion for me. Here's the conclusion section.
Fianna Smith:
Yeah. My conclusion was that for the first half of my project charging a cell phone I was able to do that and the 15 microbial fuel cells was perfect for that. All I needed was 15 of the sizes that I had. And then my other part was that I learned a lot more about the growth of the bacteria in the fuel cells and where it grows specifically and why I'm only getting certain amounts of power, because my fuel cells did not scale linearly with power and size. They did kind of a logarithmic pattern.
Anthony Godfrey:
You've charged your cell phone. You've learned a lot through this process. What do you think are some potential practical uses for this knowledge?
Fianna Smith:
So charging a cell phone first off.
Anthony Godfrey:
Right.
Fianna Smith:
I've definitely already done it. So I feel like it could definitely be improved and made easier. One of the professors that I've worked with, she's up at the U. Her name's Dr. Shelley Minteer. She is working with fuel cells to produce gas, like burnable gas. And that was where I was going to take my project next year. That was my plan to go into that.
Anthony Godfrey:
So all kinds of fuel and energy can be produced through mud. So next week is the first focus, but after next week, what happens next? Are you going to continue to pursue this for your senior year?
Fianna Smith:
Yeah. I have one more year of competing in science fair, so I want to take my biggest idea that I've had and just put it all out there. I'm going to, as soon as I get back from ISEF, I'm going to restart the process and I'm going to start researching more about the ideas that I want to do for next year. I want to pursue gas production with this because another byproduct of a microbial fuel cell is burnable gas, like methane. I want to research that and see how I could test different things involving that and get as much gas out of a fuel cell that I can.
Anthony Godfrey:
Now your dad's here with you as well. Let's talk with your dad, Jason, for a moment. I understand that you have a younger daughter who's also interested in science.
Jason Smith:
Yeah, that is correct. Fianna's younger sister, Davonna, has been competing as well. This year she actually won grand champion in the junior level. She's in eighth grade. And her project had what was called a novel discovery in reducing the amount of power it takes to produce hydrogen in an electrolysis process. This is a big deal because a lot of cars are, like Honda, is researching hydrogen fuel cell cars, but one of the big roadblocks is producing the hydrogen in itself. So it's a big deal.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's fantastic. And how does it feel to see your daughter succeed like this in the area of science?
Jason Smith:
Super proud of her. Super proud of both of them. It's pretty neat. They're both quite a bit of talk as most of the, I'll say my friends at work, they always are excited. They want to hear what the results were because they always know when the days are coming because I get really busy helping them get prepared. And trying to get two of them prepared is a lot of work.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, congratulations on the Grand Champions in your home and the great connect you've been able to make through these science fairs.
Jason Smith:
Thank you.
Anthony Godfrey:
On the cusp of international competition once again, how does it feel as you look forward to the competition next week and look back on your accomplishments so far?
Fianna Smith:
I am so excited for next week. I have been looking forward to this for a couple months at least since I've known for sure that I'm going. And obviously before that I was hoping that I would make it. I feel really happy that I did so well in my previous competitions, the state level and the regional level. And I'm just happy with the amount of work that I've put into this and where I've gotten with it.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, congratulations. I'm super impressed with the work you've done, staying with a project for this long and learning as much as you have. You have great things ahead next week and well beyond. So congratulations on your success and your hard work and I wish you the best going into competition.
Fianna Smith:
Thank you so much.
Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you will do today. We'll see you out there.
[Music]
21 min
May 02, 2024 Episode 243: WJHS “Sources of Strength” Students Plan Self-Care Event Prior to Prom Hoping to Cut Costs & Create Feel Good Moments
They wanted everyone to feel good about going to prom and cut costs in the process.
On this episode of the Supercast, hear from an inspiring group of students who belong to an organization called “Sources of Strength” at West Jordan High School. Find out how their free Self-Care Event made prom much more ‘picture perfect’ and affordable for students, creating feel good moments and memories to last a lifetime.
Audio Transcription
[Music]
Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They wanted everyone to feel great about going to prom and cut costs in the process.
On this episode of the Supercast, hear from an inspiring group of students who belong to an organization at West Jordan High School called “Sources of Strength”. Find out how their incredible Self-Care Event made prom picture perfect and affordable for students, creating feel good moments and memories to last a lifetime.
[Music]
We are here at West Jordan High School with Robyn Briggs, the advisor for “Sources of Strength” and you're putting on a Self-Care Event tonight. The media is out, all kinds of students are out. Tell us about what's going on.
Robyn Briggs:
We're super excited that you're here. We're doing a “Sources of Strength” event and this event is all about bringing mental health awareness to the kids and helping them realize that their thoughts and opinions about themselves is important for their mental health. And so to give a little self-care to yourself goes a long way.
We've collaborated with a ton of volunteers from our community and they're all coming out to do manicures. We're making corsages and boutonnieres for these kids' prom dates, we have permanent jewelry, we have eyelash extensions.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.
Robyn Briggs:
We've got haircutting. We've got so many things. Brow waxing. These kids are literally coming out of here a whole new person.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.
Robyn Briggs:
I'm serious.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's the total makeover. So is prom tomorrow night?
Robyn Briggs:
Prom is tomorrow night and all the kids signed up for appointments for this event. We've had over 45 volunteers come to perform services.
Anthony Godfrey:
45 volunteers and how many students signed up?
Robyn Briggs:
We're serving over 100 students today.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. That's fantastic. And tell me a little bit about “Sources of Strength”, the group that organized this.
Robyn Briggs:
So “Sources of Strength” is a suicide prevention program at our school. It's actually a class and I'm the advisor for that class. The students in the class are called our peer leaders. They're nominated by their peers as people that they can trust and go to when they're struggling. And so Sources of Strength is an upstream approach to suicide prevention.
We focus on the good rather than the negative. So focusing on stories of strength rather than stories of trauma. We help students draw to their, like go to their strengths when they're going through a hard time rather than focusing on the trauma that they're going through. So looking around them and being like, "Oh wow, I have so many strengths around them. I have my family's support. I have my mental health. That's a really strong strength of mine. I have my physical health. I have all these things. I have mentors." All of those things are their strengths and we help them recognize their strengths so when they are going through a hard time they can turn to those strengths.
Anthony Godfrey:
And by organizing this event, these students are now being a source of strength for the broader West Jordan High School community.
Robyn Briggs:
Exactly. And not only that, but they're getting to know the peer leaders that are at the school who are putting these things on and they're realizing, "Oh, I can get to know these peer leaders and they will be my friend." And all the peer leaders are super welcoming, super loving, and they're just like pillars in our school who shine and are positive and willing to be literally anyone's friend.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's fantastic. Yeah. And I can see the great turnout here. There's a ton going on. Talk me through. Let's walk and talk through some things that are happening.
Robyn Briggs:
Okay, sounds good. To our left right here we have our brow station. We have girls getting brow laminations, brow tints.
Anthony Godfrey:
What is a brow lamination? Putting your head through a laminating machine doesn’t seem like a good idea.
Robyn Briggs:
Okay, no, exactly. A brow lamination is when you take the hairs on your eyebrows and you laminate them up so it makes for a fuller-looking brow. And honestly, it's a huge trend right now and it's actually pretty expensive to get done. It's kind of a newer trend though. It makes your eyebrows look fuller, I guess.
Anthony Godfrey:
I have not experienced this trend.
Robyn Briggs:
Yeah, and there's also eyebrow tinting going on here. So if your eyebrows are naturally a little lighter than your hair color, they can tint it so that it matches the hair color on your face.
Anthony Godfrey:
So you can emphasize the brow, change the color of the brow so it matches the hair.
Robyn Briggs:
Exactly.
Anthony Godfrey:
And it makes for a wonderful Prom.
Robyn Briggs:
And then we've got like Skin Core over here doing waxing. They volunteered to do waxing eyebrows for us. They're doing men's, women's, all the things. Men need to get their eyebrows waxed too. Did you know that Dr. Godfrey?
Anthony Godfrey:
I did know that.
Robyn Briggs:
Okay, I'm just making sure.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yes, they do. And so tell me, so we've got the waxing going on here and this is teeth whitening right here it looks like?
Robyn Briggs:
This is teeth whitening. Can you even believe it? We've got a teeth whitener came out and donated their time to do teeth whitening on these students.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's amazing.
Robyn Briggs:
Yeah, and you know, honestly, smiles are so important. They light up a face and when you're not confident about your smile, that ruins your self-image. It really does. And so if that's something we can do to help them so they feel a little bit more confident and feel like, “oh my gosh, I can smile and I can be happy.” All of those things. Isn't that what we're trying to do?
Anthony Godfrey:
That's wonderful. Permanent jewelry. Talk to me about permanent jewelry. Now, I think my niece did this. So is it when you weld a kind of a link in a chain and now you've got a bracelet on permanently?
Robyn Briggs:
Yes, exactly. I actually just got mine done.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, let's see. Lovely. Very nice.
Robyn Briggs:
And I'm matching with my student Aspen. Shout out to Aspen. She's doing permanent jewelry. She's taking, they get to choose their chain, their design and they get it welded onto them. It's not really permanent. You can cut it off at any point in time, but it's super fun.
Anthony Godfrey:
Sure, what is permanent? But it’s as permanent as anything gets.
Robyn Briggs:
Yes, exactly. It's not quite as permanent as a tattoo though. Okay. So we're good. We're good on that.
Anthony Godfrey:
Then, we've got the brows here and the eyelash extensions. Wow.
Robyn Briggs:
Yes, we have eyelash extensions. Can you even believe that these women came out to donate their time? Eyelash extensions take up to two hours to do and you're literally gluing on individual eyelash hairs to like make your eyelashes fuller. Some of these girls might not have very full natural eyelashes. So it really does make a huge difference on their self-confidence. But we have, you can see, we have six stations doing eyelash extensions right here. Six girls that are going to have a full set of lashes for prom.
Anthony Godfrey:
It looks, it does look intense and complex.
Robyn Briggs:
Right.
Anthony Godfrey:
For those who are listening, there are tables set up everywhere. There's a ton of swag and it's just obvious there are lots of volunteers here helping everyone look their best and feel their best. That's the most important part.
Robyn Briggs:
Isn't that the most important part? We've also got over here, we've got Dapper Delinquents, a barber shop here in the valley. They came out, they have six barbers here doing our men's haircut. We wanted to make sure that the boys felt included and knew that we understood that their self-image is really important to their mental health as well.
Anthony Godfrey:
They've got the clippers out. I don't want to get too close and distract them. They're putting a sharp line on the edge of these boys' hair and it looks really great.
All right Dom, so you're the president of “Sources of Strength”, right?
Dom:
Yes sir.
Anthony Godfrey:
And you are currently getting your haircut.
Dom:
Yes sir.
Anthony Godfrey:
And how's it feeling so far?
Dom:
It's pretty good. I'm happy with it.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about this event. How have you felt as this haircut comes to a close?
Dom:
Honestly, it's been one of our best events and I'm happy with the way it's turned out. More people showed up than I thought and honestly, I think it's made a big impact.
Anthony Godfrey:
Now that you have had this haircut, are you feeling at your best?
Dom:
Yes sir.
Anthony Godfrey:
You look your best.
Dom:
Thank you. All thanks to my man right here.
Anthony Godfrey:
And what's it been like helping out tonight with all these haircuts?
Carlos:
It's been good, you know. Just coming out here seeing new people and getting new people to come into the shop, getting to check us out. We've only been around for like a year in the West Jordan area.
Anthony Godfrey:
And tell me your name?
Carlos:
Carlos. People know me as Los Cuts as well on Instagram and everything.
Anthony Godfrey:
Los Cuts, okay. How did this event come together? Where did the idea come from?
Dom:
So we wanted to find a way to help boost everybody's confidence or self-esteem. And one way we thought was, you know, one of the biggest dances was prom. So we thought, “hey, maybe if we run an event where people can come in and help fix up maybe if they need their nails done or and don't have the money for it, they can come in and people can donate their time and resources that could help out.”
Anthony Godfrey:
It's a time when you want to be your best and your self-esteem is really important. So I think it's well-timed. I loved the idea from the moment I heard about it. That's why we wanted to come out. So thanks for being a source of strength for so many people tonight.
Dom:
Of course. And thank you.
Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back more with “Sources of Strength.”
Break:
Hello, I'm Stacee Worthen, Secondary Counseling Specialist for Jordan School District. Do you know all the ways Jordan School District counselors can help you and your students? School counselors play such an important role in our schools. They provide parents with resources to help guide their children in academics. They provide support with the mental and social well-being of students in our schools. And if you are in the process of preparing a student for college, or just beginning the conversation of higher education, now is the perfect time to reach out to your child's counselor. We can assist with college applications and college readiness. I encourage parents and guardians to schedule an appointment and get to know your student's counselor. Together, counselors and parents can help develop plans and strategies for students to succeed long after they leave Jordan School District. Reach out! We're always here to help. You can find us and learn more at counseling.jordandistrict.org.
Anthony Godfrey:
Sahalee is a peer leader with “Sources of Strength” and you're also helping with the tinseling of hair tonight.
Sahalee:
Yes, I am.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tinsel is something that is for a Christmas tree–
Sahalee:
And for hair now.
Anthony Godfrey:
–from the 1900s for me. But I'm being brought into the 20th century.
Sahalee:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about tinseling hair.
Sahalee:
Well, you can tie it in. We're beading it in because it's a lot faster. So we're just doing like chunks and just putting it in. It's heat resistant. You can still curl your hair. Just–
Anthony Godfrey:
So can you curl it with your hair? And you said you're beading it in. How do you bead it in? How does that work?
We have small beads that we're clamping in. Okay. So we're just like putting it in through these and we loop it and clamp it.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Oh, so there's a little tool.
Sahalee:
Yes. There is.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wire on the end of the handle.
Sahalee:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
You pull the hair through it looks like.
Sahalee:
And then we have a clamp.
Anthony Godfrey:
And then use a bead. The bead is the clamp?
Sahalee:
No, we use a bead and then we clamp it down.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.
Sahalee:
And then it's in your hair.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh wow. Okay. And how permanent is the tinseling?
Sahalee:
Honestly, it comes down to like how well you take care of it. So you can have, I've had it up to like a month, but some people get sick of it. You could just clamp it the opposite way and it'll fall off or you can pull it out.
Anthony Godfrey:
And you were just tinseled. How does it feel?
Sahalee:
I guess cool. I mean, I can't really see it, but everybody's giving me compliments.
Anthony Godfrey:
It looks great.
Sahalee:
Thank you.
Anthony Godfrey:
I think it shimmers. It's wonderful. So yeah, well done. Oh, and look, there are different colors. I would have thought it would be–
Sahalee:
Lots of different colors.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. There's a whole array. What goes with my faded old hair?
Sahalee:
I say bright pink.
Anthony Godfrey:
Bright pink. I’d really make a statement.
Sahalee:
Oh, 100%.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, it would have to be cut pretty short. Those are long strands of tinsel unless I wanted it to trail behind me.
Sahalee:
I think that would be awesome. That's a look.
Anthony Godfrey:
I guess it is a look. I could give a whole vibe.
Sahalee:
You could give a vibe.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yes. Okay. Thank you. I've learned a great deal in just the last few minutes.
Sahalee:
Thank you.
Anthony Godfrey:
What do we got next?
Robyn Briggs:
My personal favorite thing that this event has, it has inclusivity for all different hair types and all different diverse students. We've got a whole section back here for girls with textured hair, our black Latino students, our Polynesian students, which West Jordan has a large population of those students. We've got braiding, cornrows and things like that. And then we also even have wig installations and girls can bring their wig and get educated on how to install their wig properly. I don't know very much about all the things that they have to deal with with their hair and self-care and all of that, but I do know that installing a wig is actually very difficult. And so educating the black girls on how to do that is really influential for their self-confidence. And so all of these women came to help out with that.
Anthony Godfrey:
Those appointments filled up fast. Yep. They did.
Anthony Godfrey:
Now I'm still going back to the tinsel hair. I'm seeing the result of–
Robyn Briggs;
We've bamboozled him.
Anthony Godfrey:
–the tinsel hair there. I don't know if it could work for me, but I like the concept.
Robyn Briggs:
I don't know, what about a little silver sparkle?
Anthony Godfrey:
A little silver sparkle.
Robyn Briggs:
You're what they would call a silver fox so let's just elevate that.
Anthony Godfrey:
It just doesn't sparkle. No, I think that looks great. That's really fun.
Robyn Briggs:
Oh my gosh, your hair looks so beautiful.
Student:
And she's doing tinsel too.
Robyn Briggs:
She's doing tinsel on your hair.
Student:
But it's a surprise. It's a surprise. I don't know what it looks like yet.
Robyn Briggs:
So cute. Okay, we've got all of our nail tech over here. We had over 16 nail techs come out today to do all different types of nails on these girls. Isn't that amazing?
Anthony Godfrey:
So then we've got the little light here. Is that right? It's a light.
Robyn Briggs:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
Does the light dry?
Robyn Briggs:
It cures the paint.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. And there's a lot here I don't know. This is beyond my my world.
Robyn Briggs;
I know.
Anthony Godfrey:
I have sons all the way.
Robyn Briggs:
But girls, we do know it. We know it. Yeah. And we even have somebody who's come in pre-made press-ons so that the girls can choose from a ton of different press-ons to put on. Her name is Yasmin and she's amazing.
Anthony Godfrey:
And I see we have a boutonniere station here as well. Tell me about that.
Robyn Briggs:
So we actually had all of these flowers donated by Ensign Floral. They donated enough corsages, enough flowers for 25 corsages and boutonnieres. So 50 total. And I'm pretty certain we're gonna have a lot extra because they were really generous. And so we're really appreciative of their donation. We have Maddie Sorenson, our agriculture teacher here, and she's educating and teaching all of these kids on how to create a corsage and a boutonniere for their date. So they're hand-making their corsages and boutonnieres.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. I see lots of glue and sprigs and ribbons and other materials. People working hard to put those together. All of them custom, hand made.
Robyn Briggs:
And all of them are specific to the student's outfits, right? You want your corsage to match your dress. So we have a wide variety of flowers here. We have a wide variety of colors and ribbons so that their corsage can specifically match their dress.
Anthony Godfrey:
This is super impressive. Obviously, “Sources of Strength” has an incredible focus on helping students get through the difficulties that they may be living through at home or at school. And tonight, lots of kids are going to have an incredible time at prom tomorrow. There's no doubt about that.
Robyn Briggs:
There's no doubt about it for sure. And I'm super excited with how it all turned out. And we're grateful that you came out and you're here to support us.
Anthony Godfrey:
I'm thrilled that I got to see SOS in action. You guys are awesome. Thank you so much.
Robyn Briggs:
Thank you.
Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you'll do today. We'll see you out there.
[Music]
17 min